The Depths of Darkness
by myagrace
Summary: Bella is a vampire, along with her two best friends. Edward is a human, but he's also a witch, along with his brother and sister. How do you react when you can hear voices, or in Bella's case, not the normal voices you hear, in your head?Nominated,see c23
1. Chapter 1

Hello again peeps. So, here's my new story. Before you pass judgement, read first. yes it's different from the normal vampire/human love story, but this hit me a few years ago and i started working on it as something else entirely. soooo a few weeks back, i converted it into a Twilight story(which is effin sweet because i didn't have to change that much. somehow i had set up almost all of the characters for me to switch them over, so we're good) Anyways, *insert summary*

Summary: Bella is a vampire, along with her two best friends. Edward is a human, but not completely. he has a secret, just like Bella does. But he's a witch, along with his brother and sister. How do you react when you can hear voices in your head, that you hadn't heard before, or in Bella's case, not the normal voices you hear in your head?

And, just like my other story, my Lola(LaurieWhitlock) beta'd for moi. (love mia sorella. muahs)

And, just like with my other story too, I unfortunatly don't own Twilight:(

Let's see how this goes.

* * *

><p>Chapter 1<p>

BPOV

**Why am I still here,** Bella thought.** I really shouldn't exist. Its way to dangerous for any of us to be here. I should have died long ago.** Bella was thinking while she sat at lunch with her two best friends, Alice and Emmett.

Bella, Alice and Emmett were the three most beautiful people in Forks High School. Guys would drool over Alice and Bella, but they never paid any attention to the guys in school. And the girls would never stop trying to get Emmett's attention. The only reason these three were their own click was because everyone was a little scared of them. Mostly because people in this town knew that all of their families had a good deal of money and they all drove _very_ nice cars. People automatically thought of them as snobs. They usually _did_ like to keep to themselves, not because they were snobs, but these three really didn't want people to know what they are.

To people, ignorance was bliss. So most of the people in Forks were delirious to not know about them.

After all, they were vampires. Very beautiful vampires.

Bella was an average height girl, with long chocolate colored hair and deep brown eyes. Her eyes were describe by most as 'endless'. She had very simple but gorgeous features. She had a radiant smile that no one could resist, a heart shaped face, pouty lips, and a button nose. She had the natural beauty that most girls would gladly give up their soul to have. And in a way, most of her kind felt that is exactly what they gave up. But she, for all the guys who would line up to date her, had never wanted to settle for any of these humans because she knew none of them could handle what she really was. That was the way it had always been for them. She was a very strong, confidant, but not cocky, independent girl that people automatically respected because of how she handled herself. She never let her emotions get the best of her. She was the rock of this group.

Emmett was a very handsome guy. He had very short, dark brown curly hair, and dark blue eyes. He was a beast of a man, but was really a big teddy bear. He was very much the adventurer of the group. And the trouble maker.

And Alice was more pixie-like. She had a short, spiky haircut, bright blue eyes, and an elf-like face. She was the shortest of the three, but never let it bother her. She was the meddler of the group. And she loved to be a little opinionated with most people.

The three of them were sitting in their usual spot in the corner of the cafeteria, next to the windows.

Emmett could hear what Bella was thinking. **Why would you think that Bellsy? You know we have no other choice. Why is any of this even coming up now after all this time? We've been around too long to be wondering about this. Are you feeling ok, tiger?** Emmett thought to Bella.

She knew that Emmett and Alice could hear her. She just let down her shield around her mind because she just didn't care at the moment. She was so overcome by some new emotion but she had no idea why she was thinking about the fact that there were three families of vampires in this small town. Vampires that have been such for hundreds of years.

And three vampires that shared a gift. The three of them could read what was in each other's minds. And it was just the three of them that were able to do so. But Bella thought that they shouldn't exist.

Bella had grown to not show any sort of emotion over anything. But right now she had to bury her face in her hands to try to control herself.

**What is wrong with me today, you guys? I'm so emotional and you two know better than anyone else that I am never one to just wallow in self pity. Something is definitely wrong. **Bella thought to Emmett and Alice.

**You've always been the strong one. Why are you feeling like this now? **Emmett thought to Bella.

**I don't know. Em, when was the last time either of you were this down about our existence? You can see what's rolling around in my head. **Bella thought.

Alice burst out, **"**Ok you have to stop this crap. Why are you dwelling on this? You have every right to be a little bitter about why we are the way we are."** We've all felt that bitterness in our time. You've just dealt with it a little longer than us. Why are you letting it get to you? I thought you were the one who had a handle on all of this.**

These three friends were aligned by a bond that went back hundreds of years. Back to around the time of the Salem witch hunts. Around that same time there were hunts of all things dark and sinister, even vampires. But these three families escaped the hunts of scared, confused people who had no idea what they really were or if they were even anything other than human. They never gave any signs of being what people have said vampires are.

Isabella Cullen, Alice Brandon, and Emmett McCarty were all turned by their parents when they each turned 18. Bella was the first. Her mother, Esme, a human, fell in love with a vampire, Carlisle; she met and then had a little girl, Bella.

Esme asked Carlisle to turn her into a vampire so that they could stay together forever. But their daughter was a half vampire, half human. And when she turned eighteen, Carlisle and Esme turned her into a full vampire.

But she still sustained her ability to eat human food, along with some other human faculties.

There were two others with Carlisle in a small town they had settled in the 1600's after they finally stopped running from hunters. Peter Brandon and Garrett McCarty. These vampires also found human wives around the same time, that they could not live without.

They also each had a child like Isabella. They each vowed that when each of their child turned 18, that they would turn each of them into a vampire also so that they would never lose their children.

When these three were turned into vampires, they each found that they could read each other's minds. It was just the three of them that could though. And that made their bond even stronger because there was really nothing they could hide from each other. It was a product of a vampire having a child with a human.

"I know. You're right. I've got to stop thinking about this. But…" **Do you two get the feeling that there's something weird in the air today? Like some change in energy? **Bella thought.

Alice and Emmett started to feel the air and came up with nothing. But then Alice started to feel something but it was very faint. **There's something there but I'm not sure what it could be. **"But it may have something to do with what just walked in the building". Alice was staring over Bella's shoulder to the entrance of the cafeteria. There were three people she had never seen before. Two guys and one girl.

Edward, Jasper and Rosalie Masen entered the cafeteria at that time. Edward was the first one to enter. He was tall, with crazy bronze hair that stuck out everywhere and deep green eyes. His face, and his body for that matter, was chiseled like a Greek god's. He was absolutely and indescribably beautiful. He wasn't one of those pretty boys like on the cover of a magazine, just simply, perfectly handsome. He was slightly muscular but looked like he didn't want to show that off.

Jasper entered right behind Edward with Rosalie. Jasper didn't look much like Edward, but that same indescribable beauty was still there. Jasper had longer, wavy blonde hair and blue eyes. He was just as muscular as his brother but he had no problem showing that off.

And Rosalie was also very beautiful, probably the most gorgeous girl in the world. She was tall, lean, and had long, flowing blonde hair and blue eyes like Jasper.

There were no other people in this little town quite as beautiful as the three siblings that just walked into the cafeteria, other than the three vampires.

Edward got the feeling that someone was watching them. _Well of course someone was watching them_. They were the new kids in town and they were all gorgeous.

Bella turned to look at them and met the eyes of Edward and saw something in them. There was a depth to those green eyes that had never been seen before in any human. Something was off about him but nothing she could put her finger on at the time.

Edward was trying to understand why these penetrating brown eyes were making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

All of a sudden, Edward's eyes flashed gold and Bella got a glimpse of something she didn't really understand.

The room had gone still. Literally.

Edward, Jasper and Rosalie were the only ones still moving. It stayed this way for a moment then the room unfroze.

Then, Bella's stomach dropped to the floor, and it felt like her dead heart was ringing in her ears. And all of a sudden she jumped up out of her seat and ran out of the cafeteria. Alice and Emmett couldn't make anything out of what just happened with Bella. So they followed her out of the cafeteria, not quite as fast as the exit Bella made, but still in a hurry.

"Did you really have to do that?" Rosalie asked Edward. "Why would you intentionally freeze the room like that? Someone could have walked in and seen us, you jackass. This is a very public part of the school."

"I am a little quicker on the draw than you are Rose. But I'm getting this weird feeling. And I wanted to see if it was just me or if there's something else going on." Edward said to Rosalie.

Rosalie stuck her tongue out at Edward like an annoyed child.

"I can freeze that too, you know?" Edward said in a smirking tone to his sister.

Rosalie jabbed him in the stomach and Edward doubled over slightly.

"Shouldn't Rosie and I be the ones fighting all the time? I mean we are the one's who are twins. Not you two. And she's usually on my case about using our powers." Jasper said.

"It makes me nervous now, and you know it." Rosalie said.

Edward decided to deal with whatever was making him uncomfortable later.

…

Once outside, Alice could see something in Bella's mind but she couldn't get a handle on what it was because it literally looked like it was racing around her mind. Bella was sitting on the separation wall between the parking lot and the school building and was rocking herself back and forth. She looked like she was in a trance of some sort but vampires never went into trances. So what was wrong with Bella now?

"Bells, could you calm down and stop moving for two seconds so we can figure out what's wrong? You're giving me a migraine with all the thoughts in your head. What happened to you?" Alice said.

Bella couldn't really think straight right now. She held up a finger in pause so she could have a moment to collect her thoughts. She still couldn't understand what it was she saw so she just told them what she had seen. "We don't get migraines, smartass." She then took a deep breath. "Ok, did you two not see their eyes? I saw something in them but I still can't place what it is and then the bronze haired one's eyes flashed to a gold color and then something just came over me. It was so emotional to me for some reason. But I just felt so weird that I had to get out of there. I've never felt that way before though. I'm so confused right now."

"Well that makes three of us." Emmett said. "You really don't have any clue what

it was you saw in his eyes?"

"No, no idea. It was the weirdest thing though. I felt so depressed earlier and then all of a sudden, I had the greatest felling of…. peace that I'd ever felt in my whole existence. I can get a better idea of what I felt, but it's a little sketchy. It's like pieces of a puzzle." Bella told them.

Alice was trying to see what was coming together in Bella's mind but if Bella still couldn't put it together then her two best friends couldn't help her figure it out.

Alice was a little more in tuned with Bella's mind than Emmett was but that was only because Alice was turn right after Bella. Emmett was turned several years later.

"Let's just try to pull you together and get to class. The bell's about to ring. Do you think you can handle the rest of the day, Bellybean?" Emmett asked Bella.

"I think so. I'm gonna have to, aren't I? We can just try to figure this out later after school. If I start getting too obsessive about it during class, snap me out of it." Bella told them.

Alice and Emmett nodded.

They made it to their last class of the day. Which they had half of their classes together anyways. But as they were all sitting together waiting for class to start, there were suddenly three new people sitting at the table across the room from them.

Bella got that same feeling in her stomach that she had at lunch. She saw the boy with bronze hair she had seen at lunch with his two siblings.

She began to stare at Edward to try to get some sort of insight into what was really going on with him.

Edward was thinking how much he hated to go through these introductions of the "new kids in town" and why they couldn't just tell the class their names and leave them be.

**Maybe this teacher will be different**. He thought.

She didn't realize it, but Bella started hearing more than just the other kid's voices in the classroom while she was staring at the new boy. She couldn't pinpoint where exactly it was coming from but she knew it sounded like Alice and Emmett communicating with their minds to each other but it was no one she had heard before.

This startled her a little.

But Ms. Harmon, the history teacher, came in to start the class.

Bella kept trying to listen to what she had heard but it was a very weak sound and she could barely make out what it was saying.

**Do you guys hear what I'm hearing?** Bella asked to Emmett and Alice.

Edward's head snapped up and started looking around to see whose voice that was. But no one else was looking around or responding to the voice. So he went back to listening to the teacher. She was starting to introduce the three of them to the class.

Here was the part he hated.

**What? That we have three new people in our class? Of course. Not all of us are spacing out. **Emmett thought back to Bella with a laugh.

"I would like to introduce you all to the new additions to our class. This is Jasper, Rosalie and Edward Masen. They come to us from Charleston. Let's make them all feel welcome." Ms. Harmon told the class. And then she went on with the lesson for the day. She didn't make them get up and say 'hi' to the whole class or make them do things to draw more attention to them than was necessary.

**Fuck off, Em. No, not that. Do you guys hear something that sounds like thoughts? It's almost a whisper but I can hear something. I just can't tell who it is. **Bella thought to them again.

Edward's head snapped up again trying to figure out who it was that was talking. He couldn't tell what they were saying but it was distracting to him because it almost sounded like wind-chimes speaking. It sounded beautiful but it was going to start getting to him.

So he went back to his notes and tried to tune out whatever it was. Jasper started to look at his brother and realized something was bothering him.

"What's up, man? You look a little pissed." Jasper whispered to Edward.

Do you hear someone other than the teacher talking?

It's getting on my nerves.

Edward wrote on the corner of his notes to his brother.

Jasper shook his head "no".

Maybe Jasper was playing one of his pranks on him.

**That's just the kind of thing he'd do to get me to go crazy on the first day like this. **Edward thought to himself.

**Have you finally lost it, sweetie? I always knew you'd be the first to start going stir-crazy. Are you seeing things that aren't there too? **Emmet thought to Bella.

**No, I'm not crazy. I'm completely sane. I just heard it again. I'm hearing something that sounds just like the two of you talking to me this way but it's barely there. **Bella thought to them.

**Ok this is going to get to me sooner or later. Hmmm…., they don't allow you to wear earplugs in class... Damn it. That would probably help too.** Edward thought to himself with his eyebrows furrowed.

**There it is again! You can't tell me you two didn't hear that! Come on! Ali, you had to have heard it.** Bella thought to them.

**Can wind-chimes sound pissed?** Edward thought to himself.

**No, honey. I didn't hear it. Are you sure it's someone's thoughts? **Alice thought to Bella.

**Of course I'm sure!** **Why would I make this kind of stuff up? This is a little off even for me to come up with. I mean, we're the only vampires in this town. And I've never heard anyone else's thoughts other than yours. Unless more vampires have….** Bella couldn't even finish her thought. She thought more vampires had moved into town. And that maybe these new kids were what they were.

Edward heard the wind-chimes break off mid chord. At least it had stopped for a little while.

**What, Bella? What are you thinking? If it's something that has to do with more of us then we have a right to know. **Alice thought to Bella.

**Well, yeah, I was starting to think that maybe the new kids were vampires and that's what I'm hearing...** Bella thought to them.

**Jeez, can't I get a fucking break around here? **Edward thought to himself.

**No way! Wouldn't I have picked up on that first? I'm usually the one who can sense one of us around our area. Why wouldn't I pick up on them if they were vampires? Come on it's been that way for almost three hundred years. Why would it change now? **Alice thought.

**I don't know but I just heard it again and he sounded angry. It got a little clearer that time but I still can't quite make it out. **Bella thought reluctantly. Maybe whoever they are, is hearing what we're saying to each other and that's why their pissed.** Ok, we aren't going to communicate to each other like this anymore for the rest of this class until we figure out what's going on. Alright? **Bella thought.

Emmett and Alice nodded in agreement. Then they went back to listening to the teacher.

Edward finally settled into his seat more now that the wind chimes had stopped. **Hopefully for good this time. **Edward thought to himself. He began to think someone was messing with his head and that maybe someone knew what they were already.

Bella turned and nudged Emmett's arm and gave him a sign with her eyes like she had heard the voice again. Emmett shook his head telling her that he still hadn't heard it.

Class had finally come to an end and Bella, Emmett and Alice were walking out to Bella's car, since they rode together some of the time. She drove a black Jaguar XKR, which was _beautiful_. Some of the kids in Forks High School had semi-nice cars for a small town but Bella liked to stand out. Hers was the nicest by far. Everyone in town knew these three families came from old money. So as her black Jaguar pulled out of the parking lot, people stared until they were gone. They always did. But not as many as usual today. There were two new cars in the parking lot that they hadn't seen before. One was a black Aston Martin Vanquish, and the other was a new white Chevrolet Camaro. Both sitting beside each other. They were both gorgeous cars.

Once inside Bella's car, they started to ponder more together about what could possibly be going on.

"So, any thoughts? I mean, I still couldn't have been the only one hearing him. He did it three more times before class ended." Bella said.

"No, I never heard anything after we stopped." Alice said to Bella. "Ok, so we know that this started when those new kids, Edward, Jasper and Rosalie showed up in class today. You started hearing a voice that you didn't recognize then, right?"

"It actually started earlier in the cafeteria. You know what? It actually started right before those kids came in. It has to have something to do with them. I don't know if they're something like us, or if they are one of us. But they are definitely something that's not human. I mean, have either of you seen vampire's eyes flash gold? That freaked me the fuck out. I have never seen anyone do anything like that before except for us and our eyes go black." Bella said to them. "Are you sure you couldn't get a read on them Ali?"

"No. Absolutely nothing. There's no way that they can be vampires. I have never been wrong about this kind of thing before. When we were in Europe, and all over Russia, I was never wrong about anyone we came into contact with. The only one I was a little off about was Benjamin. And we know why that was." Alice said.

"Yeah. You liked him a little too much." Emmett said.

"I did but I haven't seen him in thirty years. I don't even know where he is. But there could be other things out there that we haven't seen before. We just need to go to your place and start doing some research. I mean, we do have all night, right?" Alice asked.

Bella then floored it to her house to start their search as to what they could be dealing with.

* * *

><p>So, what'd you guys think? Leave me some love. Let me know if you like it or not, and if i should keep going with it.<p>

Check out my other story, 'Last Kiss' too if you like this one.

This is a first for someone who hated English in high school, to be writting stories that i never thought I would. So let me hear your thoughts on everything, anything, tell me about the weather where you are, i don't care.

i like to check out other peeps stories too so if you have anything interesting, hit me. if i'm not writting, i'm reading soemthing. (another first for someone who hated English. lol)

Laters


	2. Chapter 2

Hi-llo peoples!(don't ask, I'm in a weird mood today)

Ok, so I feel like I should explain some things about this story before we go on.

As you can tell, Bella, Emmett and Alice are vampires. Bella is obviously Esme and Carlisle's daughter. There will be no Charlie or Renee here, sadly. But I will make Bella and Esme look more alike than they do in Twilight. I'll probably give Esme more of the look she had in Eclipse with the darker hair.

Anyways, Edward, Jasper and Rosalie are obviously witches. But I am not giving the witches or the vampires the normal gifts that they would have had in Twilight either. Alice doesn't have visions, but she has feelings about things. Edward can't read minds, but he can read Bella's. Jasper can't feel or manipulate emotions, but he has a bond with Rosalie where he can feel when something happens to her since they are twins. Edward has a bond with the two of them as well, but it's not as strong.(this will come into play a little later. Trust me, it'll make more sense then.) And Bella's not a shield. But Bella, Emmett and Alice can all read each other's minds, since they are a 'rare breed' of vampires.

This story kind of is a mix of Twilight meets Charmed. (yes I love both) The witches have basically the same powers as the Charmed ones, so that will give you a bit of a heads up. (Freezing things, blowing things up, and moving things)

Yes, more things will be explained in the story, but I thought I'd clear up a few things for some peeps before we went further in.

SO! As always, Twilight sadly doesn't belong to me

And I love my Lola (LaurieWhitlock) my beta. Check out her story, 'Cowboys and Angels' it is a JxB story, so if ya like those, hit it, if ya don't, hit it anyways. Lol

On we go!

* * *

><p>Chapter 2<p>

Once home, Jasper and Rosalie went off to do their various ritual tasks that they usually do everyday. Jasper was a gear-head and history buff, but he went to the large garage that was to the rear of the house, and started working on the '67 Stingray that he found.

Rosalie had a few different ways to occupy her time. Like yoga, art, and, like her brother, she was a little bit of a gear-head too. They all were sort of gear-heads. They all had their own car projects sitting in the garage. But today, Rosalie decided to bypass her yoga room, and went upstairs to her art room. She had something in her head that she needed to get out. And that's usually what happens when she ends up locking herself in her art room for hours and hours at the time.

Edward actually went to the back porch and just sat there for a while, looking at the mountains, thinking. He used to have a tree he would go sit in at their last house. And everyone knew that when he went to that tree, he wanted to be alone. He didn't have anywhere like that here yet. But he knew he needed to find one. He kept thinking about what was getting to him so much about that brown-eyed girl. She seemed to be able to look straight through him. Even for that split second that she saw into his eyes, she just seemed to know something about him was off.

**There's no way in hell someone could know just like that. She doesn't know I'm a witch. **He eventually thought to himself.

Since it was getting to be shorter days the sun was starting to set, so he decided to go inside and cook for himself, Jasper and Rosalie. Their mom wasn't expected to be back until at least tomorrow. So it was his job to make sure everyone was taken care of, he was the man of the house now that their dad was gone.

…_DOD_….

At the Cullen house, Bella, Alice and Emmett were deep into their research for answers. It was the middle of the night, and they had been at this for several hours now.

Bella was on her bed with her laptop in front of her. Emmett was on the couch reading from a large stack of books they had brought up from their family library that was downstairs. And Alice was on the floor by the windows, lying on her stomach, with her laptop as well. They had yet to come up with anything on what, at least, Edward was or what they could be dealing with. Was this family another group of vampires like they were? Or could they be something that could potentially pose a threat to their family?

They each knew where to look for their specific research because they had been monitoring who really knew what about vampires and how close any of them were to being found out. They looked for anything they could think of that had to do with change in eye color, like Bella had seen earlier, or hearing other's minds. But they still came up with nothing. They also looked up anything on enemies of vampires that they could find in their own history books. Still,… nothing.  
>They were starting to get a little frustrated.<p>

"I'm starting to run out of ideas of where to look." Emmett said, looking up from the book in his lap.

"I am too. We just don't have enough to go on. All we have is that guy's eyes changed and Bella being able to hear a voice. And we know it has to do with those three new kids because it didn't start until they showed up at school." Alice said, closing her laptop.

"I think we just have to wait and get some more information about them. We can try to get some sort of interaction with them at school. Maybe, introduce ourselves to them, at least, see if any of us can get any sort of read on them. Maybe they'll tell us something that will help us figure it out. I'm starting to think that we aren't going to find that much on what they are in any of the books or on the internet if we haven't already. We've never really seen anything like that. And if you think about it, we aren't even like what's in books or on the internet about us either. Our books are the only ones that have what we are in them. And we didn't even put everything in them. Yes, we're strong, fast, and have the vision of a cat at night. Our eyes are usually either amber or red. But our eyes," She gestured to the three of them, "are the color of anyone else's. They just turn black when we hunt. Our skin is pale and sparkles in the sun. That's the only time we have to worry about someone seeing a difference in our appearance." Bella said, looking at the necklace around her neck that held their family crest. Then looked at the ones that Emmett and Alice were wearing. Emmett's was a wristband, and Alice's was a choker.

"We need to hunt. We can come back and work on this some more. We'll probably have clearer heads afterwards anyways." Bella said.

"Yeah. We haven't hunted in about a week. I'm feeling it too. Let's get going." Alice said.

They got up and jumped from Bella's second story window, landing without a sound. They started running east through the woods. It wasn't a very humanly populated area of town. Bella's house was situated right on the very outer area of a very small town. The nearest neighbors were about two miles away. And kept getting less populated the further you go from town. The speed at which they ran through the woods was blinding. To any human, they would have just looked like a gust of wind.

…_DOD_…

Edward was lying in his bed, unable to sleep. The vision of the same thing danced around in his head. And had been for hours now. The beautiful wind chimes that was the voice in his head earlier.

There was a knock at his door.

"Come on in, Jazz." Edward said. He could tell it was his brother.

Jasper opened the door and walked in, in only a pair of boxers, and sat on Edward's leather couch that was sitting across from his bed.

"I know I didn't wake you up because I'm up and I'll bet you a hundred dollars that Rose is awake and still up in her art room. We've always been able to know when something is bothering the other one. Have been ever since we were little. So what's going on? Something's keeping you up. I can tell. Cuz I know it's not Rosie." Jasper said.

Edward sat up in his bed and sat against the headboard.

"You know I told you earlier that I thought I was hearing a voice in class. But I never knew where it was coming from. I swear though that it sounded just like wind chimes, or bells. If that even makes sense. I don't even know how it could sound like that. But every time I try to close my eyes, I see the voice… I can't wrap my head around being able to actually SEE a voice. It doesn't make any sense." Edward tried to explain.

Jasper raised an eyebrow at his brother, looking very perplexed.

"Don't give me that look. I know it doesn't make any sense." Edward said.

"That's really an understatement. I think this move is starting to get to you." Jasper said. He thought his brother was starting to lose his mind.

"Look, I don't know how else to explain it. And you asked in the first place." Edward said.

"Well, you can't let this keep you up all night. None of us are going to get any sleep." Jasper said.

"Ok, I can't sleep. I told you, I see this every time I close my eyes. I don't think I'm going to be sleeping at all tonight." Edward said.

"You want some help sleeping then? You know all you have to do is ask." Jasper asked.

"Well I didn't know you were awake a while ago. So I didn't want to disturb you." Edward said.

"Well now you know. I can do the sleeping spell if you trust me this time." Jasper said with a laugh.

"Trust you? The last time you put the sleeping spell on me, I didn't wake up for three days. As long as you think you can do it right this time, then bring it on. Just make sure I'm awake to go to school in the morning." Edward said. He knew Jasper was wild with his powers sometimes.

"Oh come on. That was one time. And I said I was sorry. But you have to admit, didn't you feel well rested when you woke up?" Jasper asked, rhetorically. Then got up and walked over to Edward's bed.

"Ok, fine. Just do it. Oh, and Rosie's out in the garage working on her Mustang. You owe me a hundred dollars." Edward said with a smirk. Then he laid back down in his bed.

Jasper went ahead with the spell.

Edward finally dozed off to peaceful sleep. Jasper walked out of Edward's room and looked out of the window that looked over the back yard where the garage was. He saw Rosalie coming out from under her Mustang. She moved it back into the garage, turned off the lights and closed the doors, then walked back to the house.

"God damn it." Jasper said to himself as he turned and walked back to his room.

…_DOD_…

Bella started feeling something that slowed her down as she was running through the trees. Alice and Emmett slowed too to see what the hold-up was.

"What's up?" Emmett asked.

"I'm not sure yet…" Bella said, trying to understand what was quite literally pulling her off track. "Go on, I'll catch up."

"You sure?" Alice asked.

"Yeah Ali. Go. I'll be fine. It's probably nothing." Bella said.

Alice and Emmett shared a look, shrugged and ran on ahead.

Bella checked to make sure there was no one around that would see her if she, all of a sudden, appeared out of nowhere. But as she was checking around, she could hear someone that wasn't Emmett or Alice. They weren't in the woods with her, but she could definitely feel someone's thoughts that were nearby. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw in her head,… herself. Someone seemed to be thinking about HER. But somehow, they weren't looking at her right now. She wasn't sure how this was happening but somehow, she was able to get some sort of vibes from someone in the area. She started feeling around to see where it was coming from. She could see a house about a mile through the woods. It was the only house around for several miles so it had to be coming from there. She ran up to the edge of the woods where the house was. She sensed around to see if anyone was awake in the house. They weren't. Whoever it was, must have been dreaming about her.

**What is going on?** Bella thought to herself.

She jumped up into the tree she was standing by and perched on one of the branches.

The house wasn't old. It had to have been built in the last ten years. It looked just as nice as her house. It was a very large and spacious. Two stories, and sprawling across the large yard.

She found a window to look through to see who lived in the house. She saw a guy lying in a large bed. The guy had wavy blonde hair and was kind of familiar. She recognized that the guy was one of the new kids at their school. Jasper.

_It was their house._

Bella quickly jumped to another tree to find another room to make sure. She found another window, and sure enough, it was that guy's room. Edward.

**Was it him that was thinking about me?** She thought to herself.

…_DOD_…

Edward was asleep in his bed, and for some reason, he dreamt of the mysterious girl in the cafeteria today. He thought she was talking to him in his dream, but he had never heard her voice before. Somehow in his unconscious state, he worked through this information. He flinched as if someone had just yelled unexpectedly at him.

Bella saw him flinch. "Oh crap, I hope he's not waking up." She said to herself.

She sat very still on the tree branch. Then she zeroed in on his room to see what was going on in there. All she could see in her head were flashes of herself. They weren't clear, but she could still make out enough of it to see herself. From what she could see of it, it was a vision of her from lunch today.

**Why am I even seeing this?…** She thought to herself.

She saw him flinch again.

She sat there for another 20 minutes trying to figure out what this was all about. There was nothing else though. Just the same thing over and over again. It was as if it were torn pieces of paper making the image.

**I've got to get out of here. I can't stay here all night.** She thought to herself again. Then she stood up on the branch. Then she saw him sit up in his bed. She automatically froze and looked to see if he was in fact awake. His eyes were open and looking around.

In Edward's dream, he felt like he needed to get up and move.

He was all of a sudden sitting up in his bed, looking around his room. But he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. So he fell back in his bed to go back to sleep.

She saw him fall back on the bed, and finally let out the breath she had no clue that she was holding.

**What was that about?** She thought.

She jumped down out of the tree and started running. She wasn't sure if she was going to meet up with Emmett and Alice or if she was just going to hunt on her own. She really needed to think without any distractions. And hunting alone, she could do with her eyes closed.

**Definitely going to hunt alone.** She thought to herself.

**Em, Ali,… I'm going to go solo right now. I'm ok. I just need to be able to think.** Bella thought to Emmett and Alice.

Emmett and Alice were in the middle of hunting, themselves. They both stopped when they heard Bella in their heads.

**Ok. If you're sure…** Alice thought to her.

**Don't worry. Nothing's wrong.** Bella thought to them.

Emmett and Alice exchanged a glance of worry. Then went back to their hunting.

…_DOD…_

Bella went a few miles further to the north. She knew Alice and Emmett wouldn't be there, and she knew that she needed to hunt. Her mind was racing with the unknown.

**What was all of that about?… How could I have seen what that guy was dreaming of?… Are my powers expanding?… Can I see what others are thinking now?… Or is it just people that are thinking of me?… Why is this happening now?… What am I supposed to do about this?… Do I tell Emmett and Alice or should I deal with this on my own? No… This could help us figure out what they are if this is something coming from them. I may wait until I've got a better idea of what might be happening. I just need to think through this carefully.** She thought to herself.

There was so much that wasn't clear. But she knew it had to do with this new guy in town.

Edward.

She caught a whiff of a large mountain lion that was nearby. She focused on that and went into hunt mode.

* * *

><p>So, anyone have any thoughts here? Show of hands?<p>

I'm going to try to stick to a normal 'schedule' for posting this story. I'm working on once a week so it's like clockwork, but I may do two a week with some because some of the chapters are shorter, and I can't leave peeps hangin like that. Like the next two are kinda short. So I'll either post two next week, or I'll revise it and combine and just post one. We'll see how that works. I have twenty chapters of thins story written already so it's just a process of getting things redone and such. So be on the lookout, probably early next week, maybe Tuesday-ish?

And thanks to all the peeps who follow this story. It makes me feel good to see that little alert in my email that says 'story alert'. It feels like a hug. Lol

Anywho, I do 'extra curricular' reading (or rec's if you wanna go there) so I may as well do some for this one too.

E.C. this week: 'A Fresh Start' by tufano79 (great story. There is some violence in it, but I like the storyline.)

And 'She's All That' by SpunkRansom101 (mmmm Daddyward. Yes please! Lol)

Laters!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey y'all! So I'm going ahead and posting chapter 3 today, and probably post 4 on Friday. That's the reason this chapter is so short, but I'm not gonna shortchange you guys.

Hope y'all are liking it so far. It's gonna start taking some interesting turns soon. I just gotta get through the first few chapters where shit gets explained. So stay with me. If I'm feeling nice this week, I may add an extra chapter for you but I've gotta see how things are coming along. I haven't written a damn thing this weekend and I'm so sad about it. Writing helps me focus. And I'm only halfway through my next chapter on my other story usually I'm almost done and/or editing it by now. But don't fret those of you who read both. I'll still have it posted Friday… I think. Lol

Anyhoozle, as always, my Lola is awesome. She beta'd 3 chapters for me this weekend. Muahs! (oh and Lola, our little French expedition for this one is going to be Italian instead. You can figure out why.)

And of course, I don't own Twilight. Fml.

Let's get crackin.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

The next morning, Edward remembered dreaming about the mysterious girl. But he also knew there was more to that dream. He decided not to tell anyone about it for obvious reasons, but there was something about what he thought happened last night that he wasn't sure how to explain. So, he went downstairs and ate his breakfast in silence. He usually had some sort of conversation going with Jasper and Rosalie, but he just didn't want to let them know anything yet.

Jasper and Rosalie noticed he was rather quiet, but didn't want to bug him about it.

After breakfast, they all got into their cars, and went to school. Edward drove his black Aston Martin, and Rosalie drove her blue BMW Z4. Jasper had driven his white Camaro yesterday, and they liked to alternate driving most of the time.

Bella, Emmett and Alice were in the car on the way to school that morning and Bella told them about what happened last night.

"You have no clue why you saw yourself?" Alice asked from the backseat.

"No. The only thing I can think of is that my gift may be expanding in some way. Somehow I was able to see what he was dreaming." Bella said.

"Was that the only thing he was dreaming about?" Emmett asked while wiggling his eyebrow.

Bella turned and punched him in the shoulder.

"I told you guys. It looked like torn paper or a snowy screen on an old T.V. Nothing about it was really clear but I could tell that it was me. I don't know if I can see dreams now, or other people's thoughts. Though I don't see how that part would be possible. For almost three hundred years, it's just been the three of us who were able to hear any thoughts. How could that change?" Bella asked.

"Maybe it hasn't. Maybe after all of that research, something started taking over your mind. Did you think about that?" Alice said.

"That may be. But then what was causing me to see that? I'm not the narcissistic type of person. I'll leave that to someone else…" Bella said looking back at Alice.

"Hey, I am not. I just happen to embrace the beauty that I was given. And I'm not even that bad about it either." Alice said.

They pulled into the school parking lot and saw the new kids getting out of one of the cars they saw yesterday, but there was a different one along side it today. The Aston Martin was the one that was there the previous day, but the BMW Z4 wasn't. Edward and Jasper got out of the Aston Martin, and Rosalie got out of the BMW. Bella, Emmett and Alice watched from beside the car as the new kids walked into the school.

"So what's the plan? Are we going to try to interact with them to see what we can find out about them?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah, let's stick to the plan. We've got to get this figured out somehow. Let's just do what we normally would like last night didn't happen." Bella said.

"Ok. Let's go get this over with." Emmett said.

The three of them walked away from the car and made their way to the school building. They made it through their morning classes with out any problems. They hadn't seen Edward, Jasper or Rosalie yet, so lunch would have to be when they made their move to try to get to know something about them.

Bella, Alice and Emmett were seated at their normal table by the windows. They ate fruit most of the time at lunch because school food was so unsightly most days. You didn't know what some of the things were that they cooked in cafeterias. Emmett was the only one who ever ventured to the food line to try any of the 'mystery meat'.

They waited for the Masen kids to come into the cafeteria. They usually were the first ones in the cafeteria so they would always watch as the other kids had their ritual lunchtime banter.

"Should I go over and talk to them first when they come in?" Alice asked as the kids started filing in.

"If you want. Just don't go overboard. I know how you can be sometimes." Bella said.

"I never go overboard… I don't know what you're talking about…" Alice said, trying to be serious. Then they all laughed.

At that moment, Jasper and Rosalie walked into the cafeteria and got into the line for food. Edward didn't appear to be with them.

"Where is he? This won't work if he's not here." Bella said.

"Uh, Bellsy?" Emmett said, motioning behind her. When she turned around, she saw Edward walking through the door from the other side of the cafeteria, to meet his sister and brother in line.

Bella gave a sigh of relief. She also smiled to herself. She was hoping that see him, not just for information purposes. She found him very attractive. But he already had an obvious attractiveness going on. Everyone looked at that beautiful face as he entered the room.

They made their way to an empty table, which was three tables over from where Bella, Emmett and Alice sat.

Alice didn't move right away to go over and talk to them. They all wanted to let them have a chance to eat before Alice bombarded them with questions and information.

Finally, Alice got up and walked over to where Edward, Jasper and Rosalie sat.

**Don't make it obvious that we're way too interested in them. **Emmett thought to Alice as she walked over.

Alice gave a nonchalant nod that only Bella and Emmett would have noticed.

Edward, Jasper and Rosalie looked up at her as she approached their table.

"Hi! You're the new kids in last period, right? I'm Alice." She said, making conversation.

"Yeah. We just moved here last week. I'm Edward. This is my little brother Jasper, and his twin sister Rosalie." Edward said.

"It's nice to meet you all. Wow, you two do look like twins. You all look the same age though." Alice said.

"It's nice to meet you too. Yeah, they're just a year younger than I am. I noticed that your friends are in our last period class too." Edward said.

"Yeah. That's Bella on the left and Emmett on the right." Alice said pointing them out. "We've been best friends for a very long time. We may as well be siblings. We do everything together." She laughed, "So how do you like our little town so far?"

"I like it here. It seems really quiet, and it's very beautiful here." Jasper said, looking straight at Alice. And she smiled back at him.

"I think it's great here. Small towns are very characteristically unique." Rosalie said.

Alice nodded her head. Edward didn't really say much about it. Alice decided to try to get his opinion.

Edward was trying not to stare at Bella, but he couldn't help glancing at her several times while Alice was talking.

**Wow, she is so beautiful. Her eyes could probably hold the answers to the universe if you looked deep enough into them. She is such a uniquely gorgeous person. There has to be so much more to her than she lets people see. **Edward thought to himself. **Fuck, when did I become such a pussy? I sound like a fucking sap in my head. But damn it if it isn't the truth.**

Bella was able to hear most of what Edward was thinking almost clearly. There were a few words here and there that she almost couldn't hear, but she was almost certain that he was talking about her. He was looking at her, so he had to be.

"What about you Edward? Has our little town made any kind of impact on you yet?" Alice asked slyly.

**Alice! **Bella screamed in her mind to Alice.

Edward heard something in his head scream and flinched. It seemed like a name.

**What? It could lead to an answer we need.** Alice thought back to her.

**Just watch it, Pixie.** Bella thought.

"It's definitely made its own little impression on me. But it seems really nice around here. We moved here from Charleston. You're actually the first one's to come up to us and say 'hi'." Edward said.

"Well most people in this town are skiddish around new people. But they will warm up to you." Alice said. "But if you want to hang out with us at lunch or anytime, don't be afraid to join us. We won't bite." Alice said with a smile. Then started laughing hysterically in her mind.

**Mary Alice Brandon! **Bella yelled at her in her head.

Edward heard the name yelled again in his head. But couldn't make out who or what it was about.

**Geez, what the hell's going on? **Edward thought to himself.

**Shush it, you. **Alice thought back to her. She knew she'd hear it when she got back to the table but didn't care.

Bella had heard him again. He didn't seem to know what was going on anymore than she did.

"That would be great. Thank you. I think lunch is almost over, so I guess we can join you guys tomorrow. If that's ok with you two?" Edward said, turning to Jasper and Rosalie.

"That would be fine with me. It'll be good for me to be around some girls. Thanks." Rosalie said with a smile.

"I'm in too." Jasper said.

"Great. So I guess I'll see you all in last period." Alice said.

"See you then." Edward said.

Alice turned with a smile on her face, and skipped back to their table.

**Anything?** Alice thought to them as she walked back and sat down.

"Sort of. He seemed to be talking about me in his head when he was looking at me a while ago. And then it sounded like he was trying to figure out what was going on because I think he may have heard it when we were 'talking' to each other. But I don't know how much he really knows yet. Did either of you hear him this time?" Bella asked.

"No. I never heard anything. What about you Tiny?" Emmett asked Alice.

"No, nothing. Maybe you're the only one who can hear him." Alice said.

"If that's the case, then I may try to send him a message in last period… To see if he can hear me and if I can get some sort of response from him." Bella said.

"If you think that will work, I say go for it." Alice said.

"If you're the only one that can hear him, then maybe there's something else going on there." Emmett said.

The bell rang then, and the three of them got up and went to there next classes.

* * *

><p>Yeah, not a lot with this chapter, I know. Next one will be up soon.<p>

If anyone has questions, concerns, wants to bitch, go ahead. I'm not gonna stop ya.

Leave me love!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey there peeps! Told you I'd be back sooner than usual.

Not a lot for A/N this time around. Just the usual:

I don't own Twilight.

And Lola (LaurieWhitlock) is awesomeness. Grazie mia sorella. Muahs ( I also have an update for our hitlist. Lol)

Alright, laters peoples!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

When they got to their last class of the day, Bella, Emmett and Alice sat in their normal spot and readied themselves for Bella to try to communicate with Edward.

Edward, Jasper and Rosalie walked in and sat down at the table across the room from Bella, Alice and Emmett.

"Alright, here we go. Try not to listen because I don't need the distraction from you two. I need to get answers without you in my head." Bella said to the two others.

Both Emmett and Alice stuck their tongues out at her.

**Is anyone there? Can you hear me?** Bella thought to Edward. Edward's head snapped up. He heard the voice this time perfectly clear. But he didn't know where it was coming from. He wasn't sure if he should respond to it.

"Jazz, you still didn't hear anything in your head just now?" Edward turned to his brother, and asked.

"No." Jasper replied.

"Ok, should I see if I can respond to it? Even if I am crazy?" Edward said.

"Why not? I don't think it could do any harm." Jasper said.

"Just be careful. You don't know what you're dealing with yet." Rosalie said. The tone of her voice sounded wary.

Edward nodded.

**Who are you? **Edward sent out to whoever was trying to contact him.

Bella didn't look directly at him. She had had enough practice over the past three hundred years to not be that obvious.

**I am a student in the history class. But I don't think I should jump in and tell you who I am just yet.** Bella thought to him.

**Well, you obviously have a good idea of who I am, so shouldn't I at least know who I'm talking to.** Edward thought.

Bella considered that. She did know who she was talking to, but he didn't. She owed him at least that courtesy.

**Well, as long as you don't go running out of the room at anything I tell you; yes I'll tell you who I am.** Bella thought.

**You have my word.** Edward thought.

**Ok. My name is Bella.** She thought.

Edward turned his head sharply and looked straight at Bella.

She glanced up at him, then turned her head back to the left.

**I don't want it to be that obvious that I'm 'talking' to you. So try not to stare the whole time.** Bella thought.

**Ok. So I guess you know my name already.** Edward thought.

**Yes, I do. You're Edward. Can your sister or brother hear me? **Bella thought.

Edward loved the way his name sounded coming from her. Even if it was in her head.

**No. They haven't seemed to have been able to hear anything of what I've heard from you. **Edward thought.

**What are you? I know you have to be something, or else you wouldn't be able to hear me. And I saw your eyes yesterday. So something has to be different about you.** Bella thought.

**Well are you going to tell me what you are? **Edward thought back to her.

**As long as you don't freak out about it. If people hear what I am, they would usually jump up and run out screaming. For some reason, I don't think I could handle that kind of reaction from you. And I would greatly appreciate you keeping my secret. And I promise to keep yours. **Bella thought to him. And it was true. She had dealt with some people who had found out what they were, but she didn't like the fact that he could be disgusted by what she was. She wasn't sure why.

**Deal. **Edward thought without even thinking. He felt like he should though. She was so willing to keep his secret. So why not. **I would like to think that I wouldn't freak out. You couldn't be anything horrific or evil. But I would like to ask the same of you. People tend to shy away at the mention of what I am.** Edward thought.

**I don't think you could be worse than what I am, so you have MY word on that.** Bella thought.

**And you have mine again. I guess I'll start then. I feel like I can trust you with a secret that has to do with more than just me. So… I'm a witch… That's why my eyes changed. They do that when I use my powers. Now what about you? **Edward thought to her.

Bella looked up at him with a gaping mouth. She knew they hadn't come across anything that had to do with witches. Nothing even close. But there had been beliefs that vampires used to be witches. But she knew that none of her family had been witches so she didn't think those beliefs had any standing.

Now she just had to tell him what she was. That was going to be hard for her. But she knew she had to. She would never go back on her word.

**Wow… You may need to explain some more about that later. Ok, I guess it's my turn. Please, please, please, don't freak out. Most people don't consider me to be human. Which in a way, I'm not. I'm… **She had to pause and take a deep breath to herself.** I'm a vampire. **She thought to him.

She saw his eyes go wide.

Edward was taken back by this. He never really believed before that vampires existed. But now to be looking into the eyes of one, and hearing her thoughts, could only make it true. The only other thing would be to see her fangs exposed. That would definitely make him a believer. But there was something in her eyes though that he thought he could trust without reservation.

**Please stay with me! I'm not a killer or anything. I'm not like what's in the history books or movies. I don't kill people. Not unless there is a huge threat to my family… Are you ok?** Bella thought. She was afraid that he was going to run.

**I'm not going to run. I just have to let this sink in.** **Wow… a vampire? I had no idea that you really existed. You really don't look like a vampire. You look like a normal everyday person.** Edward thought to her.

**I will explain more later. But class is about to start, so can we try to get together and talk about this? I won't hurt you, I promise that I will never hurt you or let anything or anyone else hurt you. I just want to figure out what's going on. Maybe between the two of us, we can come up with something. What do you think? **Bella thought.

Edward ran it through his mind. He had a feeling that he could trust her not to hurt him. And he wanted answers just about as much as she seemed to.

**Ok. How would this afternoon be? I don't have any plans today. **Edward thought.

**Today sounds great. I don't want to alarm you but, what if we went to my house and talked there? I don't know if this is something you want to talk about around your brother and sister.** Bella thought. She was looking into his eyes when she said this.

He could tell from her eyes that she was telling the truth. He knew he didn't have anything to worry about, being alone with her.

**Ok. Does after school work for you?** Edward thought.

**That would be fine. You can follow me to my house. **Bella thought to him.

Ms. Harmon came in and started class.

During class, Edward and Bella would unconsciously think something to themselves. And not realize that the other was hearing them.

**I think I may fall asleep listening to this teacher. **Edward thought at one point during class.

**I'll throw something at you if you end up falling asleep.** Bella laughed in her head.

**Thanks, but I may slip into a coma if she keeps on going like this. **Edward thought back to her. Then laughed in his head.

Bella let out an audible giggle when she heard what he thought.

Some people turned to look at her to see what was so funny. She bit her lip trying to hold back the laughs.

**Shut up. You're gonna get me into trouble then I'll be sent to the insane asylum because I told them I was laughing at the voice in my head.** Bella thought to Edward jokingly.

Then Edward let out a small laugh too. But less people turned to see what was funny this time.

It went this way for most of the time they were in class.

When class was finally over, everyone else jumped up and gathered their things to leave. Bella turned and sat on the table, where she could talk to Emmett and Alice.

"Ok, he's going to come back to the house so we can talk and I can get some answers out of him. So don't panic. He's not going to kill me or anything." Bella said.

"Do you even know what he is? This could be a setup to kill you." Emmett said.

"Trust me; I'll be able to tell if it comes to something like that. But it's not going to. There is nothing that I'm sensing from him that says that he would ever try to hurt me." Bella said.

**They're vampires too, aren't they? I can tell whatever you're talking about has to do with what we're about to go do.** Edward thought to Bella. He noticed that she was trying to reason with Alice and Emmett about this.

Bella blocked Alice and Emmett's minds out and responded to him.

**Yeah, they are. I'll explain it all later. They're just concerned. I told them not to worry about anything.** Bella thought to him.

Edward took that in. This could turn out to be bigger than he thought.

**Tell them I promise I won't hurt you. I guess that's what they're worried about.** Edward thought.

**They'll deal with it. It's my choice to do this. You might want to tell your sister and brother where you're going. I don't want anyone in your family freaking out because they don't know where you are, and you're in a new town.** Bella thought.

**I will. And they have Rosalie's car and I've got mine. So it shouldn't be a problem.** Edward thought.

"You don't know that. And I guess you're not going to tell us what's going on yet." Alice said.

"Just trust me. Everything is going to be fine." Bella said.

"Just 'call' us if anything goes wrong." Emmett said.

"I will. I'll see you guys later…" Bella paused because she could hear what they were thinking, "Stop thinking that way."

Alice threw up her hands in defeat. She knew she'd never win an argument with Bella about anything. So she decided to stop while she was ahead.

**I'll meet you outside. You can follow me to my house. **Bella thought to Edward.

**How will I find you? **Edward thought to her.

Bella turned to look at him.

**Trust me, you'll know.** Bella thought with a laugh.

Edward smiled. She was being feisty with him. Then he turned to Jasper and Rosalie to let them know what was going to happen.

"I'll see you guys later at home. I'm going to go get some answers from this girl about what is going on and why I can hear her." Edward said.

"Are you sure you should go alone? You know I'll go with you." Jasper said.

"Jazz, there's nothing to worry about. Just head home and I'll tell you about it later on." Edward said.

"If you're sure. Let's get out of here then." Rosalie said with a very worried look on her face. She hated to let him go and do something like this on his own when he had no clue if there was danger.

Rosalie and Jasper stood and walked out of the classroom to go to their car.

Edward gathered the rest of his things and left after Rosalie and Jasper.

"Em, Alice, just let me handle this for right now. You both know I am completely capable of taking care of myself" Bella said with a slight smirk.

"Ok, fine." Emmett said.

Bella turned and left the classroom.

A sleek, black Jaguar screeched to a stop behind Edward's Aston Martin. The passenger window rolled down and he saw that it was Bella inside.

**Wow. **Edward thought.

**Try to keep up if you can. **Bella thought to him with a smile.

Edward jumped in his car and followed her out of the parking lot with a smile on his face. This could be an interesting adventure.

* * *

><p>So, what's coming? Any thoughts, suggestions, anything. (Don't even think about it Lola)<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Heya peoples! Soooo we're moving along with the story. It's gonna start actually having stuff happen now. It'll only be the one chapter this week since I combined two of them. May as well, right?

Anyways, again, Lola is the shit. Thanks for reading these for me mia sorella. Muahs

And Twilight doesn't belong to moi. (yes I'm mixing my languages. Get over it.)

Read on my peoples!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Once they were out on open road, they both floored it. And that's when things started to get interesting. Bella decided to make a little game out of it. She sped up and play cat and mouse with Edward. He saw what she was doing and figured she wanted to be playful. He sped up and went into the opposing lane and went around her car so that he was driving in front of her. They had fun trying to get ahead of the other

It was time to test the distance of their mind reading.

**You wanna play? Then let's play. **Bella thought to him in the other car.

**Let's dance then. **Edward thought back to her with a smile and an obvious playful tone in his thoughts.

And in a way, they were dancing.

Bella sped back up and went back around him so she was in front. Then all of a sudden, Bella's car spun around and she started driving in reverse.

Edward looked on and thought she was insane. But also thought he liked this side of her.

Her left hand was on top of the steering wheel and with her right hand; she waved her hand in the gesture to him to 'bring it on'.

Then her car flipped back around where she was facing forward again. They both continued with their game. They kept going around each other and continued with the game all the way to Bella's house. They stayed to the main road on the way. And when they came to the turn-off to get to Bella's driveway, Bella had to let Edward know.

**Hey, we're about to make a turn. Do you want me to take the lead? **Bella thought to him.

**Lead on fearless one. **Edward thought with a laugh.

Bella smiled and got back up front and lead the way up to her house. They went about three miles further down the road and then turned right into Bella's driveway. The house was situated deep into the woods with the back of the house facing a very large open area, lined all the way around by thick trees. With the occasional tree in the opening. There was a large stream running through the back yard along the tree line, into the woods. The house was huge. It was two stories, and white with an old world, early 1800's feel.

They drove up to the front of the house and parked the cars.  
><strong>Wow. <strong>Was all Edward could think.

**You impressed or something?** Bella thought.

**Very. This house is amazing. Wait, did your family build this house?** Edward thought.

**No. **She thought with a laugh. **We actually just found it several years ago and it wasn't in great shape. So we did some work on it and made it a little better.**

**Oh, sorry. I didn't know how old you were or anything. I'm sorry if I offended you. **Edward thought, feeling like an idiot.

They both got out of their cars.

**It's ok. I was actually born before this house was built.** Bella thought.

Edward's head snapped up in her direction. He was stunned that she would reveal something like that this soon. But they were there for answers. He just wasn't sure of the answers he would get.

**Well then when were you born?** Edward thought as he walked around the car.

**You know we haven't really talked to each other using our actual voices.** Bella thought to him, trying to deflect that question about her age for later.

"Then why don't I introduce myself. Hi, I'm Edward." Edward said as he put his hand forward to shake hers.

Bella smiled to herself and did the same.

"Hi, I'm Bella." She said.

As soon as their hands touched one another, there was a huge, visible spark between them. And each of them had vivid, strong flashes of memories that weren't theirs. They held on to each other's hand because they each needed something to hold on to because they weren't sure what was going on.

When the flashes started to slow, they were able to let go of each other's hand. They stood there trying to understand what just happened. And both of them were panting, trying to breathe normally.

"What was that just now? Did you do that?" Bella asked.

"No. I don't know what it was. But I'm seeing things I've never seen before. And it's freaking me out." Edward said, trying to calm down.

"I keep seeing something that I haven't seen before too, but I can make out that you're there in the pictures… Ok wait a second…" She said sorting through what she saw, "Were you born January 26, 1992?" Bella asked.

"Yes. How the hell do you know that?" Edward asked.

"Were Jasper and Rosalie born thirteen months after you, in March?" Bella asked.

Edward looked at her, so confused.

"Ok, how do you know all of that? This is starting to really freak me out. What is going on?" Edward asked in exclamation.

"I don't know. But we'll figure it out. Are you seeing anything in your head?" Bella asked.

Edward looked through some of what he was seeing. He had no idea what to make of any of it. There was just so much information.

"I can see you and Alice and Emmett, and you're running. At least, I think you're running. It just looks like a blur around the three of you. It has to be you guys running. And then you're in an older world outfit… Maybe civil war era…" Edward tried to reason out loud.

"That sounds about right. That has to be what it is. We're seeing each other's memories. Although, I really don't know how or why." Bella said, as she was trying to figure out what to do.

Edward looked at her and she seemed like she was going to fall over. She was a vampire, how could she possibly be weak.

"Are you ok?" Edward asked.

"Yeah. Let's go inside and see if we can sort any of this out." Bella said.

**Maybe my dad will know what this is.** Bella thought to herself.

Edward heard it but didn't want to say anything.

They walked up the set of ten steps of the wide porch, to the front door and went inside. The inside was much more modernized than the outside looked. It seemed as though they had completely gutted the inside and started over with their own design. There was a beautiful, older looking, almost country styled, stone fireplace. The stone went all the way up the two story wall. The living area was completely open to the two story ceiling. It seemed grand, but simple. Old world, but modern. The walls were a beautiful chocolate brown color, with white trim and white shelves on either side of the fireplace. There was a hallway to the left side of the fireplace, on the wall where the front door was, where there was a staircase to the second floor. There were two large sofas that were a very beautiful cream color, sitting across from each other in front of the fireplace, with an older looking coffee table in the middle of them. There were also two deep brown, over stuffed chairs facing the fireplace between the two sofas. The back wall was lined with big, wide glass doors that looked over the large, open yard. To the right of the glass doors, there was a wide archway that led to the kitchen. The kitchen seemed to be very modern. There were stainless steel appliances, marble countertops, clean white cabinets. There was a very large island in the middle of the kitchen that had 4 stools around it. There was also a beautiful, scrolling pot rack hanging over the island. From what he could see of the house, it seemed very lived in. Not like he thought of vampires.

But Edward and Bella were both still seeing flashes of memories. They needed to sit down and go through things. There were so many more things to figure out now. They walked into the living room and sat in the two overstuffed chairs.

"Are you still seeing my past? I know there's a lot there to process, and I'm sorry about that. There's probably some thing there too that you'd rather not see either." Bella said burying her face in her hands.

Edward wanted to comfort her.

"It's ok. I don't know where to start with any of it though. It's just a lot of random flashes of you running. Have you been on the run or something?" Edward asked wanting to know more about her.

She pulled her hands down from her face and rested her arms on her knees.

"Not like that. We haven't really been on the run, well my dad was long ago, but there's a lot between then and now. But, when we're hunting, we usually are running so that's probably what you're seeing. And I am so sorry if you see me actually hunting there. That's not something you need to see. It will probably be the thing that sends you running." Bella said. She buried her face again in her hands.

He knew this was something that she was uncomfortable with him seeing this side of her. So he tried to move onto something else of her memories.

Bella saw that he was moving on to something else. And then pulled her hand away from her face again.

"Thank you. It's just not a pleasant thing to see sometimes and I don't want to subject you to that." Bella said.

She started seeing some of the things of his past. She was used to using her mind with Alice and Emmett like this, seeing things of their past. But this was more than that. She still wasn't sure what that meant either. She was seeing things like Edward working on his cars that are now in the garage at their new house. She could tell that he loved his cars. That was something she appreciated because she had her own cars that she enjoyed working on. But she had practice managing how to control what she saw in her head. But it still didn't stop the occasional flash to pop up of his past.

"Don't worry about it. If you don't want me to, I won't look for it. But do you have any idea why this happened to us? Or what it even is?" Edward asked.

"I have no clue. I can't think of anything we've ever seen like this." Bella said.

Edward started feeling like his head was overflowing with all of this information. It really started hurting his head.

**Geez, my head hurts so much right now. I doubt that they have aspirin here. Oh well, I may just try to rub my head if it doesn't stop. **Edward thought to himself.

Bella felt so bad that this has been wreaking havoc on him. He didn't deserve to be in pain because of her. He hadn't done anything. So she decided to try to help him out a little.

"Would you like for me to rub your head for you? It's the least I can do since it is my memories that are being crammed into your head." Bella suggested.

"You really don't have to. I think I can deal with it." Edward said.

"I insist. I feel bad that it's my memories that are causing this for you." Bella said.

Edward nodded.

Bella stood up and walked to his chair.

"Just stay there." Bella said.

She stood on the seat of the chair and sat on the head of it where she could sit behind him. She was hesitant to touch him again, but what were the odds of anything like that happening again.

He waited silently for her touch. For some reason, it seemed like an appealing idea to have her massage his head.

Bella took her hands and started rubbing the sides of Edward's temples. There was no spark this time, but that contact felt so natural between them. They hadn't known each other for more than a day and they felt so comfortable touching each other in that moment.

Edward felt so at ease having her do this. It felt so nice and relaxing to him. And the thoughts just started going through his mind. Just to be able to know something about this person that was so intimate and private to her, and have her be so trusting of him. And he trusted her with his own secret. What could make the two of them so accepting of each other? Why was it that a witch and a vampire could touch each other, and not run away? There didn't seem to be a reason. Just acceptance.

Bella continued to massage his head for a while. But Edward had remembered what she was thinking about earlier.

"You thought about your dad a while ago. Would he know what's happening?" Edward asked.

"He may. But I don't know of anyone seeing anything like this. But I can go ask him." Bella said. She stopped rubbing his head, even though she could have stayed there for a very long time like that. She wasn't sure why though.

Then she stepped down off of the chair, to go to her father's office. "Are you going to be ok out here?"

"Yeah I think so." Edward answered.

**I do wish I had something to drink though. **Edward thought to himself.

Bella heard it and then scanned to see if she could do this on command. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed something out of the refrigerator. She walked back into the living room and handed Edward a Mountain Dew.

"Mountain Dew, right?" Bella said.

He looked up at her wondering how she knew so quickly.

"We keep it in the house for Alice. She loves it. I've never tried it though. I may one day… Umm, I'm going to go see if I can find my father and ask him what he thinks… I'll be back soon. Just make yourself at home." Bella said.

"Ok." Edward said. He felt a little nervous.

Bella could feel how anxious he felt.

"Don't worry. No one's going to jump out and hurt you here. We're not the kind of vampires that you hear about in history. We don't kill people and drink their blood. We hunt animals instead. It's been a personal decision to all of us that we choose to be this kind of vampire. So I don't want you to worry about anyone hurting you here. If anything, my parents may be too nice to you." Bella said with a laugh at the end. She knew her parents were always so welcoming and excepting.

"Is that even possible? To be too nice?" Edward asked.

"You'll see for yourself." Bella said with an eye roll.

Then she walked to the hallway beside the stairway and disappeared down the hall.

Edward sat there for a while thinking about what she just said.

He never would have thought that vampires that live like this, much less vampires in general, existed. But, here she was. She was a beautiful, sweet, amazing girl. She didn't seem to be the kind of girl to take crap from anyone. He wasn't sure how he knew this but he figured it was from what he could see in her past. Which was starting to slow down. He seemed to be able to see things in his head a little more clearly.

Bella walked down the hall to her father's office and knocked on the door.

"Come on in my dear girl." Carlisle said.

Bella opened the door and found her father standing over his desk looking over new blueprints.

Carlisle was a simply beautiful man. So youthful looking. He had bright blonde hair, and absolutely gorgeous honey-gold eyes. He had a lean, defined face and well built body. He looked almost too young to have a daughter Bella's age, to humans. But he could pull it off.

"For our next house. I thought we might be able to stay there a little longer this time." He said as he motioned to the blueprints in front of him, then stood up and came around his desk. "Hello darling… What's wrong? I can see something's different in your eyes." He asked as he hugged her.

"Well, I'm not sure how to deal with something that's happened and I need to know if you've ever come across something like this before. Do you have some time to talk?" Bella asked.

"You know I always have time for you." He said as he walked back to his desk to sit on the side of it, facing the sofa sitting next to it.

"What's on your mind my dear?" Carlisle asked.

Bella followed, and sat on the sofa. She gathered what she wanted to say to him.

"Dad, something happened when I got home. I should tell you about what happened at school too so you can get a better idea." Bella said.

"Go ahead." Carlisle said.

Then she continued to tell him what had happened between herself and Edward the past two days. "Well, it started yesterday. I started getting this weird feeling when we were at lunch. And then these new kids came in and I saw his eyes flash gold. I had this feeling like my heart dropped down into my stomach, and I had to get out of there. When we got to our last class, I started hearing a voice in my head. I couldn't figure out quite what it was saying or where it was coming from. But we all gathered that it had something to do with the new kids, Edward, Jasper and Rosalie. Last night, Emmett, Alice and I threw ourselves into searching for some sort of answers. But we couldn't find anything. Then last night when we were hunting, I ran across their house and I felt like something was pulling me towards the house. When I stopped, I could see that someone was thinking about me to some extent. And when I saw that it was their house, I knew that this whole thing had something to do with them. Or at least him. Then today during our last class, I found out who and what he was. Edward and his family are witches. But I told him what I was and that we needed to get together and see if we could figure out why we were hearing each other. Then when we got here, we shook hands and there was a spark of some kind. And then we each started seeing each other's thoughts and pasts. And we have no clue what any of this means, is, or what to do about it. So that's why I came to you. We were hoping you might have some idea about what we're dealing with." She explained to him.

Carlisle couldn't come up with a reason for this to have happened. He thought for a while. With the astounding speed of his mind, it still seemed like it took a long time.

"Bella, is there any sort of feeling there for him?" Carlisle asked.

"What do you mean, 'is there any sort of feeling there'? Do you mean, do I like the guy?" Bella asked.

"Well, I guess you could put it that way. Yes." Carlisle said.

"Not that I can tell. I mean he's not completely unattractive or repulsive. He's very attractive, actually. And he's very considerate, kind, understanding and trusting. He came here willingly, and without fear. The only thing was that he did seem nervous earlier. But it seemed like he was worried about things changing, and someone might hurt him after what happened as retribution. But he also knows that I promised I wouldn't let anything or anyone hurt him. So I think he's calmer now. But he's a really great guy. From what I can tell, he's a lot like I am, in so many ways. But if you're asking if I care what happens to him, then yes I do…" Bella said. She wasn't sure why she said that last part with such conviction though.

"You obviously care more than you think for this boy. You made a promise to protect him from any attack. Not that any of us would hurt him, but you still made sure that he knew you would protect him from anything. That alone is a big thing. But now that you two are sharing memories and thoughts, things may go in a whole different direction. We don't know what this is yet. So you two have to be very careful around each other and other people. I'm not sure what this all means for the two of you, but my advice is that you spend at least some time together to see if anything else happens." Carlisle said.

"What if something else does happen? Shouldn't we tell his family about what's happening too? I don't want to keep them in the dark about this." Bella said.

"I don't think they should be in the dark either. Just be cautious about how you tell them. They may not be as understanding as Edward. Is he still here? I'd very much like to meet him." Carlisle said.

Bella looked around in her mind to see if she could tell where he was.

"Yes, he's looking out the back window wall at the yard. He's thinking about how he's going to tell his family about this." Bella said.

"Wow. That connection must be getting stronger. It took you no time at all to find him… Ok, let's go see him." Carlisle said.

They walked out of Carlisle's office, back down the hall to the living room.

**Edward, my dad's with me, so don't freak out. He just wants to meet you, he's not going to hurt you.** Bella thought to Edward.

They came around the stairway, and found Edward, of course, looking out the back wall of windows.

Edward turned around to see Bella and her father walking right behind her.

Carlisle walked up to Edward and stuck out his hand to shake Edward's.

"Hi, I'm Carlisle Cullen. It's a pleasure to meet you." Carlisle said.

"Hello, sir. I'm Edward Masen." Edward said as he took Carlisle's hand. "May I say sir, that you have a beautiful daughter."

"Thank you, and please call me Carlisle. I have a feeling we're going to be seeing you around here a lot." Carlisle said.

"I guess so. I heard some of what you two were talking about. I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional. It's just this thing with our minds, it's not able to be turned on and off." Edward said.

"It's ok. I don't expect that much of anything would be normal with the two of you anymore. But we will deal with whatever comes your way, as a whole. I don't want you to think you two are alone with this. Don't be afraid to ever come here for any help with it. You are always welcome here." Carlisle said.

Edward was shocked to get this kind of welcome from people, much less vampires, he didn't even know.

"Thank you sir. It's very nice of you to welcome me so fully without even knowing me." Edward said.

"Edward, you share something with my daughter. And from what I've heard, you seem to be a trustworthy guy. Unless I see otherwise, it will stay that way." Carlisle said.

"Thank you again, sir. It's nice to not be judged for being a witch either." Edward said.

"You would appreciate someone who is willing to keep your secret. Especially with as long as we've been around. Your trust has already been earned with me. You haven't run away screaming 'vampire', that's enough for me right now." Carlisle said.

"So do you know what it is that happened to us?" Edward asked.

"No, not really. I will do some research to see what I can come up with." Carlisle said.

"My dad said we should try to spend some time together to see if anything else happens and to get to know each other better. So, if you're not busy, why don't we just hang out and talk?" Bella suggested.

Edward thought it would be a good idea. It would help to get some clarity on things.

"That sounds good. Should we stay here or go somewhere?" Edward asked.

"Well, we could stay here for a while, if you're comfortable with that. Then we can figure out how to tell your family what's happening. Maybe my dad will have some answers by tomorrow and we can tell them then." Bella said.

"I think that's reasonable. I would really like to get to know you better myself." Edward said.

"I'll leave you two alone to talk. It was nice to meet you Edward." Carlisle said, and stuck out his hand to shake again.

Edward stuck his hand out and shook Carlisle's.

"It was very nice to meet you too sir…Carlisle." Edward said, remembering that he wanted to be called Carlisle.

Carlisle smiled at him when he remembered that. Then turned and walked back towards his office.

When Edward and Bella were alone, they weren't really sure where to start.

Bella decided she should probably start since she instigated the conversation earlier.

"Well, let's sit down and I'll go ahead and tell you more about me and my family." Bella said.

"Ok." Edward said.

They both went back to the living room and sat down, this time on the sofa.

"Well, I guess you've noticed that my father is a vampire too. So is my mother. She gave birth to me and then was turned into a vampire by my father… Stop me anytime you think you can't handle something." Bella said.

"No, go ahead. I think I can handle it. Just don't worry about me. Keep going." Edward said.

"Ok. When I was born, I was a half human, half vampire. I grew up to the age of eighteen. It seemed to be a time when the growth period stopped. That's when my father changed me into a full vampire. But as far as we can tell, it only partially worked. We've never really figured out why, but I've kept certain characteristics from before. Like I'm able to eat food, along with drinking blood. But we hunt animals. Like I said earlier. We don't go hunting for people. The only time we even consider human blood, is when we are in dyer need. And we don't kill a person when we have to do that either. But, the other thing that didn't change when I changed was my ability to read the minds of Alice and Emmett. They're vampires too. And so are their families. All of our fathers fell in love with humans and had each of us the changed us when we turned eighteen. But it's always just been the three of us that were able to read each other's minds. Which is what has bonded us to each other so much more. I was the first to change, then Alice, then Emmett. Do you have any questions so far?" Bella asked.

Edward let the information sink in.

"Well, I do kind of have a question. But it may be a little personal. More for your dad. But, why did he go through with changing your mother? Didn't that bother him at all that he might be taking her life away? I'm not trying to judge your father, but I just want to understand his reason behind doing it." Edward said.

"I get where you're coming from. I asked them once a while back. And he said that she was his entire world and he couldn't imagine living forever without her. And he meant forever, too." Bella said.

"And you've never really figured out why changing you into a full vampire didn't exactly work?" Edward asked.

"Well, I sort of came up with a reason but I don't know if it's really what happened. Nothing like the three of us has ever really existed, that we know of. So what I think happened is, that there are venomous enzymes in our bodies that we can control to change someone or to kill them if we had to… Sorry if that scares you." Bella said.

"I'm fine. Stuff like that doesn't really bother me too much." Edward said.

"Ok. So my theory was that the venom enzymes that were already in my body stopped some of the venom that my father put into my body when he bit me. So it stopped my ageing and gave me the thirst to drink blood, but it didn't stop my hunger for human food. It did make me susceptible to what the sun does to us. Whereas I wasn't before. The sun shows us sparkling, not bursting us into flames or anything. There are lots of historical inaccuracies about us, which is why I wasn't sure about what you were." Bella said.

"Really? How do you mean?" Edward asked.

"Well, if things in history aren't completely correct about us, then there was no real way to figure out what you were. I knew there was something different about you when I saw your eyes yesterday at lunch. After that happened, my stomach dropped to the floor and I ran out of there. So it had to have something to do with whatever is going on between us. I felt something from you and it affected me. Then I started hearing something in class yesterday. I wasn't sure who it was. So that led me to do some research last night but everything that I looked through came up with nothing. Which I had a feeling that it would be that way." Bella said.

"So you knew before?" Edward asked.

"Not what you were. Just that you weren't a normal human. I wasn't sure about your sister or brother." Bella said.

"Yeah. Rosalie's the one that's worried about us using our powers. Our dad was killed last year by witch hunters. They were in our area and noticed a power surge, and found our dad. He wouldn't tell them about the rest of us. But they swore there was at least another witch in the area. So they tortured him for two days. He died before we could get to him. My mother was crushed by it. The witch hunters had moved on. So we decided we should move on too. We left Charleston and came here." Edward said.

"I'm sorry." Bella said, with a tear welling up in her eye.

Edward reached out and stopped it from rolling down her cheek.

"Please don't cry. I don't think I could handle seeing you that way… I'm not sure why I feel that way though. I just feel like I shouldn't be the blame of sadness for you." Edward said.

Bella was taken back by that. She felt almost the same way towards him. She reached her hand up and laid it on his hand that was on her cheek.

"I'm fine. It's just so sad that your dad died like that. I just can't imagine losing my dad under those circumstances. Much less at all. Even when there's not that much that can kill us." Bella said.

Edward removed his hand from her face slowly. He felt the urge to keep it there but knew it would be inappropriate. He barley knew her, and he felt like he was… more than friends in someway with this girl.

**Jeez, am I crazy? **Edward thought to himself.

Bella heard that in his head.

"What's wrong? Why do you think you're crazy?" Bella asked.

"Oh shit, I keep forgetting that you can hear me**.** I just keep having this weird feeling that I've known you for so much longer and I feel more comfortable than I think I should with you." Edward said.

"I feel abnormally comfortable with you too. I guess sharing whatever this is, has made us that way." Bella said.

Edward smiled at that.

"So how old are you anyways?" Edward asked.

"In vampire years, three hundred and nineteen." Bella said.

"Wow." Edward said. That hit him kind of hard. He didn't realize she was quite that old. He thought maybe one hundred at the most but not three hundred.

"That's really unbelievable. I would have never thought that." Edward said.

"Well thank you. When the aging stops, it quite literally stops all together. My dad is a little over four hundred years old himself. My mother is three hundred and fifty-four. Emmett and Alice's parents are about the same ages. There are a couple of decades between them, but they're relatively the same age. Does any of this freak you out at all?" Bella asked.

Edward still wasn't sure if all of this was a dream or not.

"Not really. I'm just trying to wrap my head around all of this. The age thing is still tripping me out." Edward said.

"Well, I'll give you a break from my story. Tell me some more about your family." Bella said.

"Ok. Well, I told you all of us are witches. We all can freeze things and time around us. We can blow things up and move them. I guess you could call us telepaths, in a way. We basically use our powers through our mind. We can cast spells too. That's kind of what I thought was happening at first yesterday, that Jasper was playing a prank on me with our powers. But then it kept going deeper, and I knew it couldn't have been him." Edward said.

"Is that normal for him to do that?" Bella asked.

He laughed. "Very. Well, it used to be. Since we moved, we've been trying not to use our powers. But we do every now and then." Edward said.

"Because of what happened with your father? I can see part of what happened when you found him." Bella said. She had another tear welling up in her eye.

"Yes." Edward said.

Bella tried to snap out of it.

"You know what? We need to figure out how to tell your family about all of this. Why don't we go ahead and tell them what we know and maybe you guys can come out with me, Emmett and Alice tonight. We always go to Angelo's once a week. And tonight is the night we usually go. We can all hang out together and get to know everyone a little better. Does that sound ok?" Bella asked.

Edward thought it sounded great. He didn't know how long Rosalie would let him go on without telling her what was going on.

"Yeah, I'd love to. But we'll have to see how well they take the news first. Rosalie may not be as susceptible to what you are as I am. I know Jasper would probably be ok with it. It will shock him, but he's pretty mellow about things. Do you want to go ahead and go over there? It's probably best to go ahead and get this over with." Edward said.

"We can do that. I think your family will have more of a problem with it than mine or Emmett or Alice's. So why don't we get out of here and we can break the news to them." Bella said.

"Ok, let's go." Edward said.

They both turned towards the door to go outside. As they got out the door, Edward asked, "Do you need to let your dad that we're going ahead with this?"

"No. He probably heard that conversation anyways. He trusts my judgment. He pretty much has since I was a kid." Bella said.

"He seems to be really great. I can't imagine meeting your mother after meeting him." Edward said with a laugh. They were walking slowly to their cars.

"Yeah, she's about as bad as he is, being that nice. They've never had a fight. They love each other unconditionally. I hope I can find that someday. But it's hard to when you're what I am. People can't really handle what we are." Bella said.

"I could." Edward said, with a smile again.

Bella smiled back at him. She really enjoyed being able to talk to someone else about life and what they were. And that the other person wasn't a vampire made it all the more interesting.

They reached their cars and got into each of them.

**My house is just further up the main road coming from town, going this way. There's a left turn further up and it's almost at the end of the road.** Edward thought.

**Lead the way then. **Bella thought.

* * *

><p>Alrighty, not much to sum up after that. hope you guys liked it.<p>

E.C. for the week: 'A Nerd Story of Love' by tufano79 (geekward and nerdella. such an amazing story. i love it, love it, love it!)

And 'The Heart of the Mafia' by brigidcullen (mmmm Edward and guns... yup good visual!)


	6. Chapter 6

HIIIIIIIIIIIII! Okie dokie, so here's some more for ya.

Lola, my favoritest person reads my shit for me and makes sure I'm not being an idiot. Lol muahs

And I don't own it, but I seriously wish I did:(

Onward readers!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Bella and Edward made their way to his house.

When Bella drove in behind him, she was certain now that this was the house she came across last night.

They pulled around to the back where the large garage was located and parked their cars.

Edward saw that Jasper was lying underneath his '67 Stingray, working on the engine.

**You should probably stay in the car until I let you know its ok. **Edward thought.

**I guess you're right. I don't want them to be uncomfortable. And if they are, I can leave. **Bella thought.

Edward got out of the car and walked over to where Jasper was working on his car. He leaned over the open hood of the car and looked down.

"Engine giving you problems, little brother?" Edward asked.

Jasper rolled himself out from under the car.

"A little. You wanna give me a hand with it?" Jasper asked.

"Actually, I need to talk to you and Rosie. Do you have a few minutes?" Edward asked.

Jasper got a confused look on his face.

"Sure." Jasper said, then looked and saw that there was another car behind Edward's.

"Is that her?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah, umm… We found out something a little while ago that we need to let you guys know about." Edward said.

"Oook." Jasper said.

**It's ok, I think. You can come over here. **Edward thought to Bella in the car.

Bella stepped out of the car and walked over to where Edward was standing. She wound up standing closer to him than either of them realized. And Jasper noticed it.

"Hi, I'm Bella. You must be Jasper." Bella said with a smile.

"Yes. It's nice to meet such a beautiful girl." Jasper said back with a crooked grin, much like his brother's.

If Bella could have blushed, she would have. But she just smiled at him.

"Well thank you. It's nice to meet you too." Bella said.

"So where's Rose? Is she not working on the Mustang?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, she's in the garage." Jasper said.

At that moment, Rosalie came walking out of the garage with several tools in her hands.

"Who's talking about me this time?" Rosalie asked with a little sarcasm. She wasn't looking up when she was walking out.

She looked up when she stopped, and saw that Bella was standing there. She dropped her tools when she saw Bella.

"Motherfucker…" Rosalie muttered under her breath.

"Rose, you ok?" Edward asked.

Rosalie reached down and picked up the tools that had fallen to the ground.  
>"I'm fine. I was just a little stunned. I didn't realize SHE was coming by." Rosalie said with a little harshness.<p>

"We all need to sit down and talk. We've sort of got some answers, not the ones we were looking for, but still. Can we all go inside and talk?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, let's go. I need something to drink anyways." Jasper said.

They all walked to the side of the house where there was a door leading to the kitchen. They went inside and Jasper headed for the refrigerator.

"Anyone want anything?" Jasper asked.

Bella blurted out, "Mountain Dew…"

Edward snapped his head around in Bella's direction, in question.

"I thought you didn't drink anything like that." Edward said.

"You have a lot to learn, still. And have you not noticed that I'll try anything once?" Bella asked with a smile.

Jasper handed her and Edward both a Mountain Dew and grabbed a Coke for himself and water for Rosalie.

"Touché." Edward said, smiling back. Then they both laughed at each other, quietly.

"Did we miss something?" Jasper asked.

"I think so." Edward said. "Let's go sit down and talk."

They walked into the living room and sat on the two sofas that were arranged around a beautiful antique coffee table. The whole living room seemed to be mostly antiques. Almost as much as what's in Bella's house. There was a very homey feel in the Masen house. It felt like they had been there for several years, instead of a couple of weeks. The walls were a very warm yellow with white trim. There were hints of light blue and warm brown everywhere.

**Maybe you should start this conversation. They're you family; they may take it a little easier from you.** Bella thought.

Edward turned to look at Bella and nodded.

"What's going on Edward?" Rosalie asked with quite a worried look on her face.

"Well, I need to tell you both about what happened today. Bella is…" Edward started, then Rosalie jumped in a blurted out, "Not human…!"

Everyone stopped dead and turned to look at Rosalie.

"What the hell? How do you know that?" Edward asked.

"Wait, she's not human?" Jasper asked.

"Hold the fucking phone. Rosalie, how do you know that?" Edward asked again.

Rosalie sat there like she was about to make a stand for some injustice or something.

"I was coming inside from the garage last night and I saw something in the trees. She showed up out of nowhere. It looked just like her. I wasn't sure at first, but now that I see her here, I know it was. She jumped up in a tree and sat on a branch for a while, looking at the house." Rosalie said with almost an attitude.

**You were here last night?** Edward thought to Bella.

**Yes. We ran by here when we were going hunting and I caught sight of myself in someone's thoughts. So I stopped and checked to see who it was. I guess it was you. But you were asleep. I'm sorry I hadn't told you yet. **Bella thought. She was worried he would be mad at her.

**It's ok. I probably would have done the same thing if I were you.** Edward thought.

Bella was relieved that he was ok with it.

"Ok, well, this will probably help understand why. She's a vampire." Edward said.

Rosalie jumped up out of her seat and started backing towards the door. She grabbed the chair that was at the desk by the door and broke it against the archway that was on the other side of the door. She ended up with two pieces of wood in her hands that could pass for stakes. She used them as a defense towards Bella.

Bella reacted, and jumped up and over the back of the sofa and backed up to the wall going to the kitchen. It barely looked like she moved but she was there in front of the wall.

Jasper jumped up and tried to stay away from Rosalie. He didn't know she would react this way to anything.

Edward got up and got between Rosalie and Bella.

"Rose, she's not going to hurt us. She's not that kind of vampire. She is a good and loving person. She wouldn't hurt a human. She gave me her word that she wouldn't hurt any of us."

Rosalie's eyes looked like they were on fire. She just kept staring at Bella with wide eyes.

"Rosalie look at me." Edward said with a stern voice.

She finally looked at him after a few seconds.

"She… is not… going… to hurt us. Ok? She is here to help us figure out what's going on. And she's going to be around until this is fully figured out. We don't know the specifics of it, but we know, for some reason we need to be around each other. Ok? I trust her and I want you two to at least consider that she's not a monster. Because I know she's not." Edward said as he turned back to look at Bella.

Bella had a look on her face like she was completely taken back by his protectiveness.

"Rose, give me the stakes. I don't want to have to hurt you myself. She hasn't done anything to misplace my trust…Rose… give me the goddamn stakes! Please don't make me do something to you. These won't hurt her anyways." Edward said.

Jasper was more shocked than anything. But he seemed calm about it.

Bella spoke. "I promise you that I won't hurt you. History doesn't portray all vampires correctly. There are some out there that live on human blood. But my family and I don't. We hunt animals. We've made the choice to live that way and to not hunt humans."

Rosalie finally lowered the stakes she had in her hands and Edward grabbed them from her. Bella composed herself more and walked closer back to the sofa. Rosalie started calming down a little.

"Rose, are you ok?" Edward asked.

"I don't know. Ask me later… Then why does history portray vampires as human blood-sucking killers?" Rosalie asked.

"We've only ever had to take human blood when we were in desperate need. Even then, we don't drain a person. But like I said, there are other vampires out there that do live off of human blood. And they don't have any qualms about killing a human to get their blood. But that's not us." Bella said.

"Us? How many are there?" Rosalie exclaimed.

"In this town? Nine. There are two other families here that are like mine." Bella said.  
>Bella walked back around the sofa and sat down as a gesture of good faith. Jasper followed and sat down across from her.<p>

"See, Rosalie? Nothing's going to happen. And I'll know if she does change her mind and attacks us." Edward said.

"That's not funny Edward." Rosalie said as she slowly walked around and sat close to Jasper.

Edward went back and sat beside Bella.

"Jasper, are you ok?" Edward asked.

"I think so. But, you're sure she's not a vampire that kills humans?" Jasper asked.

"Yes… Well, that's the other thing I need to tell you both about… When we got to Bella's house earlier, we touched each other's hand, and there was a spark, and now we're seeing each other's pasts and all of each others thoughts. Her father is trying to do some research to find out what's going on. But seeing as no one has really heard about or dealt with something like this, he may not be able to come up with anything. So we're going to play it by ear." Edward said.

"Wait, you're seeing each other's pasts?" Jasper asked to make sure he heard it right.

"Yes. I know Edward was born June 20th, 1993. And that you two were born thirteen months and twenty days after him. Which would be July 9th, 1994. And Rosalie was born seven minutes before Jasper. And that you two have always fought over which of you came first. And Jasper's been working on his Stingray for the past six months. Rosalie just finished her Mustang. Should I keep going?" Bella asked.

Rosalie shook her head 'no'. She didn't expect her to spit out that much information about them.

"Can you see that kind of stuff about her?" Rosalie asked to Edward.

"Yeah. I can see when she was turned into a vampire when she was eighteen. I can't see the whole thing but I can see that her father biting her. I can see places they've lived like Russia, France, England, South America, Canada. She was around when Emmett and Alice were turned into vampires. Bella is three hundred and nineteen. Alice is three hundred and two. And Emmett is two hundred and seventy- four. Do you want more? Or can I stop?" Edward asked.

"So Emmett and Alice ARE vampires?" Jasper asked.

Bella nodded.

"Ok, so what does this mean though?" Rosalie asked.

"I'm not sure. Like Edward said, no one has really seen anything like this before. So it's going to be a learning experience for all of us. But we need the support of both of our families. This isn't going to work without everyone's support. I know you two are probably less than optimistic about any of this. But we need you to put aside the fact that I'm a vampire, and focus on the fact that we are both involved with whatever this is. And that means it DOES involve everyone too." Then Bella turned to Edward, "We need to tell your mother when she gets back too. She may have heard something about this kind of thing."

"She should be back tomorrow. We can tell her then. Rosalie, are you calm now?" Edward asked.

Rosalie was processing all of what had been said. She now understood that this situation did involve her brother. Which in turn involves her and Jasper as well. So she could learn to possibly accept that there is a family of vampires close by. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"… I think I'll be ok with it eventually. But I don't have to like it. It's just going to take some time. Edward, you know I'm still anxious about this kind of stuff after last year." Rosalie said.

"I know Rose. But we have to be in this as a family." Edward said.

"I'm sorry about your dad." Bella said to Rosalie and Jasper.

"Thank you for that." Rosalie said. She didn't think a vampire could be sympathetic. But she could be wrong about the whole thing. Maybe she's not so bad after all. But it could just be part of her human mask. Rosalie would hope for the best though. For her brother's sake.

"Jasper are you in on this?" Edward asked.

Jasper was less freaked out than Rosalie was, but he knew Edward's judgment could be trusted. He always trusted Edward.

"Yeah, I'm in. I just hope you both know what you're doing." Jasper said.

"We do… I have something else we wanted to ask you both. Would you two be willing to come to Angelo's with Bella, Alice, Emmett and me? Bella thought we could at least spend some time together to get to know each other a little. It might help you with your fear of them." Edward suggested.

Rosalie thought it over. She knew Edward usually had a good reason for doing what he did. Their parents always trusted his choices. She took another deep breath and answered Edward.

"Ok. I'll do it for you Edward. But if things turn south, I'm out. I'm not going to be able to handle dealing with this kind of shit again. It was bad enough with what happened to dad last year." Rosalie said.

Edward nodded. "Jasper, what about you?"

"I think that would be ok. Why not? This sounds interesting." Jasper said. He was intrigued by the fact that they were going to hang out with three vampires.

"Alright, get cleaned up then." Edward said, and then turned to Bella. "Do you want us to meet you there?"

"Sure. It's right there as you're coming out of town, coming this way. So you'll get to it before you get into town." Bella said.

"Ok, let me walk you out then." **I may be able to calm her down a little more before we go over there.** Edward thought.

"Ok." Bella said. She stood up and walked towards the door.

Edward followed behind her.

When they were outside, walking to the car, Edward felt so guilty about how Rosalie responded.

"I'm really so sorry about how Rosalie reacted. She's been really jumpy about everything lately. But she should come to accept the situation soon. But with that reaction, I'm not sure. Just don't mind her. She's a good kid, but she worries a lot. I'll try to talk to her some more though." Edward said.

"It's ok. Really. I don't think many other people would have much of a different reaction to vampires. I just don't want to push her… But I guess I'll see you guys later?" Bella said.

They stopped at her car, and Edward opened her door for her.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon. I'm looking forward to it." Edward said, smiling.

"Thank you." Bella said as she stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek, then slid into her car. She kept smiling to herself. She didn't realize there were that many gentlemen anymore.

Bella then backed up and drove out of the driveway.

* * *

><p>Ok, so what did you guys think? Any thoughts? Good, bad, ugly, pink, green?<p>

I'm still up in the air as to whether I'll post another chapter later in the week. We'll see how it's all going and if my other story isn't being a pain in the arse. But trust me, it won't be more than a week. I'd never do that to y'all:)


	7. Chapter 7

Heya! Hope you guys are enjoying so far.

I'm loving how many peeps are reading this story. That makes my day better. Reviews are fun too. Helps me know if I'm going in the right direction and what people like and don't like. HIT THE LITTLE BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM. Lol

Again, my Lola (LaurieWhitlock) knows how to keep me in line and keep me going. Muahs

And I don't own it. *sigh*

Let's get reading!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

As Edward pulled up to Angelo's, he noticed Bella's Jaguar park next to an ice blue Porsche Cayman. Both gorgeous cars. He saw Bella sitting on the hood of the Porsche with Alice and Emmett. He knew that it had to be Alice or Emmett's car. Edward parked in the open spot beside Bella's car. And Jasper and Rosalie were behind him in Jasper's Camaro. Jasper parked on the other side of Edward's Aston Martin.

Edward got out of his car and walked over to where Bella, Alice and Emmett were. Jasper got out of his car too, but Rosalie hesitated to get out. She finally did though after a few seconds of composing herself.

Bella, Alice and Emmett hopped off of the hood of the car to meet Edward. Rosalie and Jasper came up behind him slowly.

"I'm glad you guys could make it. I hope we can all enjoy some time together. This is always one of our favorite parts of our week when we get to come here." Bella said.

"I hope you guys aren't completely freaked out over what we are. We would never dream of hurting any of you. The only problems we've ever had is with others of our kind. So we've never had a real problem with any humans. You're safe around us." Alice said.

"I know we are. And I'm glad you invited us to join you tonight. Should we go inside?" Edward asked.

"Yes, let's go." Bella said.

Then they all turned and walked into the restaurant.

They went to the back of the restaurant where they usually sat at a large table. Angelo's was set up like bar, mixed with a restaurant, with a dance floor and a jukebox. It was one of the reasons why Bella, Alice and Emmett loved coming here. It was more than just a regular restaurant.

Bella, Alice and Emmett sat down first. Then Edward sat down next to Bella. And Rosalie made sure she sat between Edward and Jasper. She wasn't comfortable sitting next to a vampire yet.

They ordered their food and made some small talk. While they were waiting on their food, Edward noticed something in Bella's head. He wondered how this would go.

He leaned over and said, "Why don't you go put that song that's in your head on the jukebox." Then smiled at her.

She smiled back and got up and walked over to the jukebox and pressed the number of the song she wanted to hear. The song 'I wanna love you forever' came on and Edward decided to go ask Bella for a dance. He got up and walked over to where she was standing in front of the jukebox.

"May I have this dance?" he whispered in her ear from behind her.

She turned around and looked in his eyes. She stared into them for a few moments.

"I'd love to dance with you." Bella smiled.

They walked to the dance floor and he took her hand, and spun her into his arms.

"Wow, I'm impressed. I guess I didn't see when you became such a good dancer." Bella said.

"Don't think, Bella. Just go with it." Edward said.

They danced closely to each other, without thinking about who the other one was. They were just there. There were no vampires, no witches, no freaked out siblings. They just danced like they had been dancing together forever. They seemed like they fit right together with each other, perfectly. Edward noticed how sweet Bella smelled. It was almost a mesmerizing scent. Not like anything he had smelled before. It was intriguing. He buried his face in her thick, curly hair. It felt really natural to both of them.

Bella noticed what was in his head and found that interesting that he was so captivated by her. She didn't realize she was giving off that vibe. Was she even doing that? She reached her hand up and ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. But she then realized, she was captivated by him too. The way he was so at ease around her, how he seemed to be magnetized to her. His scent was quite appealing too, now that she thought about it. It was so crisp. Like sea island cotton. It was almost mouthwatering.

The song ended, and they didn't even notice. The only way they did, was when Alice gave Bella a heads up.

**Um, you guys do realize that everyone is staring at you, right? **Alice thought to Bella.

Bella looked up and around and saw people staring.

"Wow, that's really uncomfortable." Bella said quietly.

"Who cares? Let them look." Edward said as he buried his face in her thick hair again.

"We can dance again later. I think our food is coming." Bella said.

"Promise?" Edward said in a sweet, pleading voice.

"I promise." Bella said with a smile. Then they both walked slowly back to the table and sat down. Edward sat closer to Bella than he had before. Bella felt the need to take a breath after their dance.

"You two really didn't notice everyone staring?" Alice asked.

"No, we were having fun out there." Bella said, then turned and smiled at Edward.

Then their food came out and they started eating. Emmett couldn't help but go to the vampire subject. But he did it discreetly.

"I guess you guys are more than a little worried about us being who we are." Emmett said where only the ones sitting at that table could hear.

Rosalie was the first to respond to him. She had been thinking quietly since Bella left their house earlier. And she started getting the feeling that they could be ok as vampires. And the vampires had never really posed a threat to them so far. And they hadn't heard of any people dying from vampires or mysterious animal attacks when they were looking for a new town to live in. So they obviously hadn't been hunting for human blood.

"I think that's an understatement. But I guess if we're still alive now then I'm not quite as afraid. I think it's just what we've always heard about your kind, has always scared the hell out of me. And when Edward said it earlier, I guess my instincts just took over and I reacted. And I want to apologize for that, Bella. I probably should have listened to what the whole situation was first. But I guess most people would react that way. But the fact that Edward trusts you makes me start to trust you too. It may take some time, but I just get the feeling that you're all not as bad as you've been perceived in history. And I'm sorry." Rosalie said.

Everyone at the table stopped and looked at Rosalie. No one, especially Edward and Jasper, thought that Rosalie would have this quick of a turn-around with something like this. But if she would be ok with this now, then there was only one bigger hurdle to get past now. Their mother.

"Wow, Rose. I didn't know you'd have a change of heart this quickly. Are you feeling ok?" Edward asked.

She gave him a small slap on the arm.

"I guess if all of this is happening with the two of you, then there has to be a reason behind it. I don't think the reason is that we're all going to be killed by you three. But I think things could turn out ok with all of this. At least I'm hoping so." Rosalie said.

"Well thank you Rosalie. I really appreciate that. I know it's not easy for you guys to accept what we are." Bella said.

"I don't want to make enemies. I don't think being on a hit-list with vampires is a very wise move. I mean you guys seem to be normal everyday people right now. You don't seem like you could kill a human." Rosalie said.

"Well we could, but we don't. The only people we've had to kill are ones that tried to kill us first. We're not blood-thirsty monsters. But we will protect our family." Alice said.

"And as of now, that includes protecting your family too. We're not going to let anything happen to you guys, if we have anything to do with it." Bella said with real conviction.

Everyone looked at Bella.

"What? Edward is basically an extension of me now. We are somehow connected and I'm not going to let anything happen to him or his family." Bella said towards Alice and Emmett.

They both nodded, understanding.

"Thank you, Bella. We'll try our best to do what we can to protect you all as well. We need to watch each other's backs." Edward said.

"Ok, Jasper. Let's go dance." Bella said when most everyone was done eating.

Jasper looked at her and didn't know what to do.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to bite." Bella said with a smirk on her face. Then she, Alice and Emmett all busted out laughing. "Ok. I'm serious. I promise I won't." She said with a smile.

Edward couldn't help but smile at her. Jasper got up and they walked out to the dance floor.

"Let's see what you got, Jasper." Bella said with a joking tone.

Jasper took her in his arms, leaving some distance, and danced around the dance floor with Bella.

"Wow, you and your brother both have moves, don't you?" Bella said jokingly.

"You bet your blood-thirsty ass." Jasper said with a big laugh.

Bella laughed with him too. She knew he was a joker. She love that about this family. From what she could see, Edward was always the rock, like she was. Jasper was the joking, free spirited one, but had a really calm streak in him at times. And Rosalie was usually a worry-wart. But Rosalie had her times of being care-free too. But over the last year, she'd become so much more cautious.

"Just be careful how loud you say that. Ok?" Bella said still laughing.

"You got it." Jasper said. "I like the three of you. You just seem so normal compared to what I've ever been told about you. I don't understand though why the difference in stories?" Jasper said.

"Well, I guess in the beginning it was to throw people off of what to notice from us. And it just kept going. People started coming up with some of the other things about us. So we've been well concealed over the years. But there have been some that caught on to us. That's usually when we move on suddenly. Does any of that help you understand?" Bella asked.

Jasper thought about what she said. It made sense to start rumors that vampires were something they weren't to throw humans off their trails. It was very clever.

"Yes, it does. I just never thought that it was a cover up to hide you guys. Well played, whoever started that." Jasper said with a laugh.

"Well you three know. So I trust all of you not to give away our big bad secret and cover up story." She said smiling.

"The secret's safe with me." Jasper said.

The song ended and they went back to the table where the rest of the group was.

"Alright Rose, let's go show 'em what you've got now." Jasper said from behind her.

She looked up at Jasper and said, "What the hell. May as well." Then she got up and walked to the dance floor with Jasper. It was an upbeat song this time so, Bella grabbed Edward's hand and dragged him to the dance floor too. Alice and Emmett usually danced as a group with Bella, so they both got up too and went and joined the others and started dancing. They started dancing as the couplings they went out there as. But soon, everyone was dancing with everyone else. It turned into their own little dance party. Everyone was having a blast. Even Rosalie. Once she let loose, and let her guard down, she started enjoying herself so much more. She didn't even think about the fact that Bella, Alice and Emmett were vampires. They were just… friends.

When the song was over, they walked back over to their table, laughing. They continued to cut up and joke around with each other throughout dessert. They did seem like they had been friends for a long time, finally. Despite the fact that they just met.

After a couple of hours, and a few more dances between Edward and Bella, they realized it was getting late. And they needed to get out of there before they closed.

"Alright guys, let's get out of here. It's getting late and we've got school tomorrow." Bella said.

**Wait, I still want to talk to you more. I like spending time with you like this.** Edward thought to her. And it was true. He felt so comfortable and so at peace around her.

**Ok. Well we can go somewhere and just hang out for a while. Do you want to go to one of our houses? **Bella thought. She found that she enjoyed being around him too. He wasn't like any of the guys that had drooled over her or Alice or Emmett. And it was nice to have someone who knew the truth, and didn't run for their life. He stayed.

They all got up and started walking to the door.

**Well is there anywhere else around here that we can just be alone and talk? Somewhere we won't have any distractions.** Edward thought.

Bella thought and quickly came up with a pretty good place.

**Well how about this little area near my house. It's quiet and no one will disturb us. **Bella thought.

"That sounds great." Edward said out loud.

"What sounds great?" Alice asked.

"Oh," Edward said, he didn't even realize he had said it out loud. He was going to have to work on that. "We were just gonna go hang out for a while longer. We just wanted to talk some more."

**Are you sure that's a good idea, Bella? What if something happens?** Alice thought to her.

They reached their cars then.

**Jesus, I wish you guys would stop worrying so damn much about him. He's not going to hurt me.** Bella thought. Then she saw further what was in Alice's head.

"Ali!" Bella almost yelled.

"What?" **You know it could happen. Maybe not tonight, but what if you two do this kind of thing on a night that you haven't hunted in a while?** Alice thought to her.

**I am not even talking about it going that way. I wouldn't even consider taking his blood. Are you out of the fucking mind? **Bella thought back.

**Ok fine. Just don't let yourself get that far, in the future. You know you have before.** Alice thought.

"Ok, you just stop. Nothing's going to go wrong, or anything. We're just going to go talk through some stuff and see what we can figure out in quieter surroundings." Bella said. **So quit with the third degree! **She thought to Alice.

"Ok. Well we're heading home then. Don't do anything we wouldn't do." Emmett said, smiling.

"Oh that's funny coming from you, Em." Bella said laughing.

The three vampires all laughed at that. Edward just smiled at Bella for being able to be so fun-loving.

Emmett and Alice got in her Porsche and drove home.

"Jasper, why don't you guys go ahead and head home too. I'll be home later. Don't worry about anything. I can take care of myself." Edward said.

Rosalie looked at him with a very worried look on her face.

Edward could tell what she was worried about.

"Rose, just go. Ok? We're not going to get in any trouble or anything." Edward said.

Rosalie didn't say anything. She just turned and walked back to Jasper's Camaro.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow Bella. Night you guys." Jasper said. He started walking to his car.

"Good night Jasper. Don't worry; he'll come home in one piece." Bella said.

Then Edward started laughing at the joke. She joined in after he started laughing.

"Well, should we get out of here too?" Edward asked with a smile.

"Yeah, let's go." She smiled right back. Then they both ran and got in their cars.

* * *

><p>If you haven't noticed yet... i'm a car junkie. The cars in this story are some of my absolute favorites:)<p>

Rec's for this week: (I'm doing the same ones on this one that I did on 'Last Kiss' for those of you that follow both) 'My Sun and my son' by Littlemissyter

And 'Love Like Winter' by MandyLeigh87 (I don't know if I've already done this one, but I don't care. It's good. So read it.)

Let's get some Gamecock baseball going! Woohoo! (sorry if you're not a Carolina fan:p)


	8. Chapter 8

HIIIIIIIII! Yes I'm trying to be upbeat when life throws you lemons, and you have absolutely nothing to make lemonade in. (don't ask)

I said it in LK, but I'm gonna say it again, Let's here it for my South Carolina Gamecocks for winning back to back NCAA World Series College Baseball Championships! 'cock-a-doodle-doooooo!' M. Roth is a sexy bitch, and S. Wingo is my hero. Lol.

And much love goes to my busy bunny this week, Lola(LaurieWhitlock) she's been busting her ass doing chapters all week for me. "I LOVE U!"

And *sad face* because I don't own Twilight.

Read on!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

Once they were in their cars and on the road, Bella thought to Edward, **Follow me and keep up. We're going towards my house. We can park there.**

**Lead on. **Edward thought.

They drove fast down the dark streets towards Bella's house. They quickly made it to her home and park in the driveway. Once they were there, they got out of the cars, and started walking around the side of the house. As they walked, they started walking closer to each other the further they went until they were close enough to hold hands. Neither of them went to grab the other's hand yet though.

"You're sure no one will bother us out here? Won't your parents know you're home and come find you?" Edward asked.

"They've never really questioned anything I've done. It's been over three hundred years and I've never really done anything to disappoint them in that time." Bella said.

They began to walk closer to each other. Bella hooked her arm around Edward's. That touch right then made them both feel so at ease. It didn't seem normal that they were so comfortable around each other like this. Bella could even see that she was starting too really like him. How could she suddenly just have feelings for someone she doesn't really know that well? But she did know basically everything about him. His entire life history was in her head. And hers was in his. So what was this? Were they friends? Were they close? Were they going to be more than friends? Were they going to date? She had no idea what would happen from here. Things were changing by the minute with both of them. Each minute, they felt like they were growing by just being around the other one. It felt like they were growing closer.

Edward could feel it too. He felt better just by being around her. Like she brought out a totally different person in him, without him being different. More like she added to who he was.

So she pulled her hand down, grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers together. Neither of them pulled away. They both seemed to completely revel in it. It was soothing and such a wonderful touch between them. Electricity seemed to flow through both of them.

They walked through the back yard without saying a word to each other. The only thing that mattered to either of them was just being there. Walking through such a peaceful, beautiful place, together. There were flowers blooming, distant sounds of chirping crickets, and a nice cool breeze in the air. It was so blissful. But Bella knew there were things that needed to be talked over. She really didn't want to though.

"I don't really want to talk about anything that has to do with reality either. It's just too hard to want to think about that stuff right now. I just want to be here. I didn't realize it could be this peaceful here in this town. I think you make a lot of the difference with that too." Edward said, looking in her eyes.

She had to look away to think straight for a moment. She didn't realize how difficult it would be to just talk to him when they were alone. Not because they were uncomfortable, but because they WERE so comfortable. Talking about serious stuff just didn't seem to be as important in the moment.

"You're right. Let's just be here. There's a little place by the river that I like to go to, to think and just relax." Bella said.

"That would be great." Edward said.

Bella saw a question in his head. "Don't worry. I'll be able to hear if anyone comes around while we're here. We won't get caught." She said with a laugh. He loved her laugh.

They continued around the yard, through the trees that covered the whole area. They turned around a corner of trees and came into a beautiful, huge meadow. Purple, yellow and white wildflowers were scattered everywhere. Which looked to be fading due to the time of year. But they still gave color to the meadow. There was a small inlet jutting out from one side of the river that had a walk-over bridge. It was so picturesque. There was also a large gazebo about fifteen yards from the water's edge. It was simple and old worldly. There were also small benches along the inside of the gazebo. It was so beautiful here. Edward almost had no words for it.

They walked along the bank of the river, almost to the bridge and gazebo. They didn't even have to ask what the other wanted to do. Bella sat down in the grass. Edward waited then sat next to her. They looked out over the water just taking in the night.

"So where do you think all of this is going to lead to? I mean, are we going to be just friends, or are we going to be more than that? Because I seriously can't see what is in store for us in the future. Can you?" Bella asked with a wondering look.

"I don't know. But I really like being with you. Dancing with you. Looking into your eyes. Seeing who and what you are from your past. Knowing that I can trust you with anything. Even my life. Just knowing that something is always going to connect us somehow. And that just makes me hope." Edward said, looking at her with a very thoughtful gaze.

Something jumped in Bella's stomach that made her lunge forward to kiss him. She put her hand around the back of his head to pull him closer.

He didn't know she would get this surge of emotion that he could also feel. He pulled his hand up to her cheek and rubbed his thumb across her smooth skin.

She suddenly pulled away, just realizing that she had just kissed a guy she just met. She had never been much of a girly girl. Or a flirty girl. She had never really even kissed a guy in three hundred years. She left that to Emmett and Alice. But in that moment, she saw something in him that made her heart tug. She just had the urge to show him that she cared for him. But she still didn't quite know how much she cared yet. The more time she spent around him, the more he grew on her. The more she could see… what a good man he was, in every way. He wasn't like the guys who liked to ogle at girls, or treat them like they were property. He wasn't that guy. He was the gentleman. He would never make a girl feel like she was just trash, and throw her away. All of these things made her feel like there was a glimmer of hope that she could be more to him. She could feel a twinge in the pit of her stomach that she wasn't used to.

Edward kept looking in her eyes, trying to discern what he was feeling too. That kiss had been a shock to him, but he really didn't mind it at all. He would have gladly welcomed another one from her. But she seemed to be trying to figure out why she had done that. He had already sort of thought through some of this as they walked through the trees. He knew how honest, and descent, and fun, and quirky, and just downright beautiful she was. She was as close to being a human that he had ever thought a vampire could ever be. And he didn't mind that she was a vampire, and not human. It made no difference to him. And that's what made his heart jump in his throat. Her being a vampire never deterred him from seeing who she was. Just pure and good. Nothing less. But he didn't want to screw up anything, because he wanted to see where this all went.

When Bella looked down, she couldn't help but want to pull him back for another kiss. But she didn't want to be too forceful with him. He was a good guy and didn't deserve to be treated any less than how he treated her.

Edward could see something in her head that seemed like 'wanting'. Like she wanted to kiss him again. So he pulled her chin back up and looked at her eyes. He saw the same thing there. Wanting. He pulled her chin close to him and gently kissed her. Her lips were soft against his. Like velvet. They both felt a surge flow through their bodies. They both wanted more. To be closer.

She pulled back again, only inches from his face. She looked up into his eyes again and what she saw then, was almost lustful. She couldn't be sure, but she had seen enough looks to see that something about his eyes this time made her hold her breath.

When Edward was looking in her eyes, he could tell she wasn't breathing. He saw fire in her eyes that seemed to almost jump out at him. Because she all of a sudden felt like they had to be closer. Not out of wanting, like he thought he saw before. That was pure need. A need to be closer to him and to show him her affection. That fueled him to need to be closer to her too. He wanted to kiss her again. He gave her a cautioning looking like he was going to kiss her again.

But she could see his thoughts. She pulled his face back to hers and kissed him again. She started softly but then as his lips parted, she started to almost panic.

He saw the alarm in her head. He pulled his lips just barley away from hers and asked, "What's wrong?"

She started breathing again and tried to put the thoughts together to tell him.

"I'm not used to this… I…" She trailed off.

Edward realized what she meant. "You've never kissed a guy before? How is that possible?" Edward asked a little confused.

She looked up in his eyes. "Just because I'm over three hundred years old, doesn't mean that I've necessarily done any of this." She said in an almost whispered voice.

"Wait, you've never… been with a guy before either?" Edward asked with a little shock on his voice.

She shook her head. She had to look away from him.

"Hey, don't feel embarrassed about it." He put his hand to her cheek to get her to look back in his eyes. "I'm not exactly experienced in any of this either. But I'm willing to try." Edward said.

"I don't know if I can. Wait a minute… Do you want to?" She asked, searching his face.

"Well, I hadn't planned on doing anything like that tonight. But, if you're getting the same feeling from me that I'm seeing in your eyes, then I would just let whatever happen. Isn't that what we were told to do? Let this play out and see what happens?" Edward asked.

Neither of them had realized that they were talking about this so soon. How could a kiss turn into a talk about their lack of kissing, sex, or anything else like that?

Bella had known Alice and Emmett to be very 'seductive' to the opposite sex. And never made any qualms about sleeping with them. But Bella had never really felt like that kind of girl. She would have gone through her entire existence not having been with someone, if it meant that she didn't have to feel like she was a slut or anything. She never really saw Alice or Emmett like that, but she knew she would feel that way about herself.

Edward was only eighteen, but knew he wanted to find the right girl before he did anything that big.

"You're right. We should just let whatever happen and let the chips fall where they may. It's not like there's the slightest chance that I'll ever get pregnant." She said with a knowing look.

Edward's head snapped up and he had a wondering look on his face.

Then she realized that she may have said too much. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up now." Bella said.

"No, it's just… I didn't realize that you couldn't have children. It didn't click for me. I'm sorry." Edward said.

"I didn't want to have that be a big thing for us or anything. Just forget I said it." Bella said.

Edward looked back into her eyes again to see a little pain there.

"Are you ok?" Edward asked feeling a little worried that she might be scared about that fact.

"I'm not scared. I've known this for three hundred years and I've dealt with it. It has become a non-issue to me most of the time because I did think about it for a long time. How I'd never be a mother and the fact that it would always just be my parents and me. And Alice and Em and their parents too. I had my time to be bitter about it and sort of moved on." Bella said, furrowing her brows. She was remembering the day that she talked to her mother about it. And that was when she realized that she wasn't really going to pursue men during her existence. But now that she was here with Edward, she was starting to reconsider her choice. But then she didn't want to make his life any less than what he could have with a normal human.

"Stop thinking that way. I don't care if you can't have kids. It's not important to me. Even if we got that far. I'd like to think I'd be a good dad though if I had kids one day." Edward said.

"You'd be an amazing dad. But I don't ever want to be the one to take that away from you if we came to that." Bella said, looking back to the ground.

"Hey, that's my decision. And I'll make it when it comes up. Don't worry about things that don't matter to our situation." Edward said.

She knew that another issue would come up, but she'd deal with it later. She wanted to focus on them.

When she looked back up to his eyes again, she could see that it, in fact, didn't matter to him. And that being with her then was the only thing that mattered to him. And it seemed that would be the only thing that mattered to him in the long run. She hadn't seen this in his eyes at all before. Like he knew he wanted to stay with her. Then she realized she felt the same way. She didn't want to be anywhere but with him. It was by no means logical that two people that just met were feeling like they wanted to be together, however long it may be. But why not see where this relationship could go? This whole thing would be almost life changing.

"So, what does this mean for us? Do you want us to be more than just friends or two people that know each other?" Edward asked.

"Extraordinary circumstances. I don't see why we can't be more. We've already kissed. I really want to see what kind of relationship we can have. And if that means that we're together as a couple, then that's what I want too. This may be what was meant to happen between us." Bella said.

Edward felt that emotion surge in him again. He knew this was right for them.

"I want that too." Edward said, then grabbed Bella's face and kissed her eagerly.

She pulled her hands up to grab the nape of his neck to press his face closer to hers. He brought one of his hands down to wrap around her waist to pull her body closer to his. She ran her tongue across his top lip, which made him pull her even closer. Then they both had their tongues in each other's mouths. Massaging, and letting out soft moans. She would rub her thumbs around the nape of his neck. He would occasionally do that to her cheek too. They felt completely in sync with their movements. Just like with knowing each other's thoughts, they knew what the other was wanting. They continued kissing like that for about ten minutes. They wanted to be closer, but wanted to take it slow. But they could both tell they each wanted to go further. So they took it slightly further.

Bella removed her black motorcycle jacket and threw it on the ground. Then she unzipped Edward's hoodie and slid it off his shoulders and threw it over where she threw her jacket. She went back to kissing him and rubbing the nape of his neck. He placed his hands flat on her back, and then he slowly dragged them to the hem of her shirt and ducked them under so his hands were touching the skin of her back. She pulled away to look at him in the eyes. And his eyes answered her question. She yanked her shirt over her head and they both started shedding clothes. They sat there, Bella in her bra and panties, and Edward in his boxers. Bella straddled him and started kissing him again. Being a normal hormonal guy, Edward couldn't help but be hard at the look of her chest. Then he pulled her closer to kiss them. Bella arched her back and made a soft moan into the air. Her hands were wrapped around his head to pull him even closer. She didn't want him to stop. Every touch became more and more heated to each of them. She reached around and unhooked her bra, pulling it off and throwing it with the pile of clothes. Edward couldn't help himself now that he could fully see her chest. He buried his face into it, and started kissing, and licking. He moved his hands around to her butt and groped it. Making Bella raise up further to his face and let out a small whimper. That small whimper did far too much to Edward. When she sat back into his lap, she could tell how hard he was. She looked into his eyes with a quirked eyebrow at him. She pulled his face back to hers and started kissing him passionately. She wanted to know what it was like. Before this, she had never had an interest in sex. But now that she was so close to it, she had to know. And she felt so confident with the fact that it was with Edward. He could tell that she wanted to. And he had no problem with it either. The deep, longing feeling he had, gave him the assurance he needed to go ahead with it. And they both knew they couldn't contain the feeling surging through their bodies. Bella pushed him backwards onto the ground. She reached down between her legs and ripped the thin panties she was wearing, from her body, with no problem. And tossed them aside. It made Edward's hard-on twitch just to see her do that.

"Oh, fuck me!" He said. She looked at him with a cautioning gaze. Then reached down to his boxers, and ripped them from his body as well.

"Christ on a cracker!" He said, and reached up, grabbed his boxers and tossed them in the same direction as her panties went, behind her. Then there was nothing in between them. And she could feel him between her legs. She rubbed herself against his hard-on which made him throw his head back, and reach out to her thighs to still her momentarily. He gave her a questioning look to make sure she wanted to go through with this. Her answer was to roll them both over where she was laying on her back in the grass. He kissed her cheek, her nose, and her eyes, down her jaw to her ear. He gently took her ear into his mouth and nibbled on it.

She reached down between the two of them, never looking away from his eyes, and found his erection. She situated his penis so he could push into her. And he did. He started out gingerly. And felt a slight twinge, but it passed quickly. He went on, slowly pushing in and out of her. She threw her head back in the grass at the feeling. She couldn't believe how great it felt. But she had other plans. She grabbed his butt tightly to thrust him into her harder. Edward grasped the grass as hard as he could. And Bella arched her back and threw her head back again with a loud moan. Edward took that as a go ahead and started pushing into her harder. She pulled both of her legs up and wrapped them around his waist as he pushed in and out again. He hovered over her to kiss her. She grabbed his head and plunged her tongue into his mouth. The feeling of ecstasy with every thrust only made them pant harder. They could both feel their climax coming. Edward kept thrusting into her harder. She reached up to his back with her fingers, and dug her nails into his back slightly. That aroused him even further and he then pushed into her as hard as he could. They both came at the same time, with their bodies tightening and each of them throwing their heads back. Edward dropped his head to Bella's neck and started kissing it lovingly. He made a path down her neck, across her collar bone, to her other shoulder. Just planting the sweetest kisses over her.

When Bella could focus again, she grabbed his face and pulled it up to hers and kissed him so passionately. They wrapped their arms around each other and laid in the grass. Bella dragged her fingers lightly over his body. It felt almost like heaven to him. He laid his head against her chest, and whispered, "You're incredible." She couldn't help but smile at that. She continued lightly dragging her fingers over his body until he was asleep.

As they were lying in the grass by the river after they were done, Bella kept planting soft, sweet kisses all over Edward as he slept. She loved seeing him like this. He had the most peaceful look on his face. Like nothing could ever faze him. That look made her worry a little. Because somehow, she knew they'd never be able to stay together forever. But she was willing to stay with him as long as she could. She could definitely tell that there were feelings growing for him. She didn't have a name for it. She knew it was something big though. It was definitely nothing she had felt before in three hundred years. So she knew she would have to think through it further. She still had a few hours before the sun would rise so maybe she could get an answer by then.

As the sun started peaking from the horizon, Bella still was no closer to an answer. She knew they would be together somehow. As she saw part of his dream while he was sleeping, she had a deep swelling of hope for the future.

She began kissing around Edward's face to try to wake him. He stirred a little. So Bella leaned down and whispered into his ear "You're adorable when you sleep."

Edward's eyes slowly slid open to meet hers.

"Do you realize how amazing that was?" Edward asked with a slight smirk.

Bella smiled back at him. "I have a pretty good idea." She leaned closer to kiss him... "We need to get out of here soon. We can't be late for school, now can we?" Bella said with a grin.

"I guess not." Edward said with a sad undertone.  
>"We can always do this again. I have no objections to it." She said, leaning down to kiss him again.<p>

Edward sat up on his elbows to kiss her. When she pulled away, he looked around for their clothes. And found his boxers in shreds. He grimaced at them.

"Damn, those were my favorite boxers." He said.

Bella leaned down to his ear and whispered, "I'll buy you a lifetime supply of them. You may need them if we keep this up", and then licked his earlobe.

"Mmmm, that would be good. That feels so amazing." Edward said with his eyes closed.

They got up and put on what they could of their clothes. Then walked back to their cars with an arm around each other's waist. Bella leaned into him as they walked to just feel that much closer to him. He pulled his hand from her waist to sweep her hair back and kiss the top of her head. Then he replaced his hand on her waist.

When they reached the cars, they stood between them and just held each other in their arms. They took in each other's smell, feel, and touch. Trying to memorize it until they saw each other again. Which wouldn't be long. But school didn't seem like the right place to show their affection. People would be all over it. 'The quiet girl with the new guy'. That will raise some flags with people. But hopefully they could ease into it.

"Can we at least hug at school?" Bella asked with her face still in his chest.

"Maybe not for this long, but I don't see why not. Friends hug friends. And you are definitely more than my friend." Edward said with a laugh.

That made Bella think for a moment.

"What are we then? Are we just lovers, or are we going to label ourselves with something that doesn't fit us? How do we do this?" Bella asked.

"Well I'm definitely not letting it out that we're lovers. But maybe we could try out being boyfriend and girlfriend. It's not so bad. But maybe not letting out so quickly would be best. People are going to freak out anyways knowing that the new guy already has a girl after being here for only a little while." Edward said.

"You don't know the half of it." Bella said with a chuckle.

Edward looked down at her with a questioning look.

"People think I'm a snob, and I guess that's the vibe we give off. But it's gonna end up being that 'the stuck up snob bagged the cute new guy'. I've seen how those kids in that school get scandalized about even the smallest thing. So just be prepared for it." Bella said, slightly pulling away.

"Can I still see you tonight?" Edward asked.

"Of course. I can cook for you here tonight. My parents are hunting tonight so we'll have the whole place to ourselves. Do you think your family will mind it?" Bella asked looking up at him.

He looked back at her and said, "I don't see how they would. We've already passed a big hurdle with Jasper and Rosalie. The only thing we'd have to deal with next is my mother. And she's not supposed to be back until tomorrow. It should be fine." He pulled her back to him kissed the top of her head.

Bella knew he needed to leave, but she didn't want to let go yet.

"We'll see each other soon. We need to get cleaned up. We would really draw attention if we show up like this in our clothes from yesterday." Edward said with a laugh.

Bella laughed with him. Then she reached up and kissed him sweetly. They let each other go, except their hands. And as they walked, they had to pull their hands apart from the others. Edward got in his car and drove out of her driveway, back to his house.

* * *

><p>Sooooo, any good? Yes, no, anything? (We're so not going there Lola)<p>

Rec for the week: 'Sin & Innocence' by drotuno (The sequel to 'Blood and Glory' great reading)


	9. Chapter 9

Surprise! Yeah, I totally wasn't going to update this soon, but with it being the 4th of July, I'm feeling generous so this is y'alls gift for today. Yes, I'll still probably update on Friday too. Gah, I'm so wanting some peach ice cream right now. It's a 4th of July staple around here. Lol

Ok, so need to explain one thing real quick. Esme is from Louisiana, and has the accent to go with it. If you are from LA please don't hurt me for the butchering of the word 'buhbay' it's my way of spelling it to where I know what the hell I'm hearing. I don't know the actual spelling of it. So, just go with it. If you ARE from LA, and want to correct my spelling, please message me so I can fix it. It would be greatly appreciated.

And on with the usual, Lola(Laurie Whitlock) my monkey is awesomeness.

And I don't freaking own Twilight. I wanna though….

Read on my peeps!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

When Bella walked around to the front of her house, she saw her mother in the flowerbed in the front yard. Bella took a deep breath and went over to her mother.

Esme got up from the flowerbed and walked over to Bella.

"Hey there, my pretty buhbay. Where have you been? I thought you girls went hunting the other night." Esme asked with her Louisiana accent. She wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulder and hugged her to her side. Esme had the same gorgeous features as Bella. Simple, yet perfectly beautiful. She had the same flowing dark brown hair. But different colored eyes. Where Bella had brown eyes, Esme had the same topaz color as the other vampires in their family.

"I was out with Edward last night." Bella said kind of holding back.

"Oh your dad told me about him. I don't know what to make of any of it." Esme said. "So where were you two?"

Bella knew she couldn't keep stuff from her mother. She had always been honest with her. And now was no time to stop doing it. "We were… _together_… in my meadow." Bella said, not looking her in the eye.

Esme was taken aback by that. "Wait a minute. Are you saying you slept with him, buhbay?" Esme asked with shock across her face.

"Yes." Bella whispered.

"Wow. Are you sure you know what you're doing with this boy?" Esme asked, looking at her.

Bella snapped her head up. "You're not gonna try to kill me over this?"

Esme furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would I do that, buhbay? Have I ever doubted your decisions? I know you can handle anything. I just want to make sure you know what you're getting into with him. Your father seems to like him, so I'm sure I won't have a problem with him." Esme said.

"I know you haven't doubted me. But I figured that you and dad might have a problem with me getting involved with a human." Bella said.

Esme turned to look her straight on.

"He's not a normal human though, is he? He has his own secret from the world. And if he can handle your secret, then why not see what happens?" Esme said.

"You know, most parents aren't this understanding when their daughter comes in after having sex with a guy she just met. But it's not the same as that though. He's so genuine. He treats me like I'm normal. He forgets that I'm a vampire sometimes. And then that makes me forget too. Because he just has this essence about him that I can't get over. He's so wonderful and understanding. He can see past everything that I am and just accept me. I've never had anything like that before. No guy has ever gotten that close to me to know the secret." Bella said, looking up to her mother.

"Bella, do you see how deeply you feel for him? I can certainly see it. How your eyes lit up when you talked about him, how that smile can't help but cross your face. And how lovingly you talk about him. I think you're falling for him, buhbay." Esme said, as they started walking to the house.

Bella thought about it as they walked. She wasn't sure if she was right, but it was definitely a possibility.

"I can tell you're gonna need time to think that over. So why don't you go get cleaned up for school. You're already running behind this morning. Go on." Esme said, as she pushed Bella towards the house.

"Ok. You're right. I gotta get going." Bella said as she sprinted into the house and up the stairs. She jumped in the shower and kept thinking about what her mother said.

When she got out, she decided to talk to him about it when she got the chance. Knowing where he stood on it would help in her thought process.

She actually tried to figure out what to wear today. She wondered what Edward liked on a girl. She usually was up on fashion, but just threw stuff together and it always looked good. But now she wanted to look good for Edward. She felt like such a teenager right now. But she didn't care. She was never really one for dresses or skirts, but she thought today could be an exception. So she rummaged through her closet and found a great black skirt that fell just above her knees. And a light green three quarter length sleeve shirt that was almost the same color as Edward's eyes. Then she would add her black jacket from last night and boots. She felt good about this outfit.

So she got dressed and bolted out the door to go to school.

When Edward got home, he walked in the front door and literally ran into Rosalie in the front hallway. She was running down the stairs to get her breakfast.

"Did you just get home? Where have you been?" Rosalie asked with a little shock in her voice at seeing him in his clothes from last night.

"It's ok, I fell asleep. You and Jasper can go ahead without me. I'm going to go shower real quick and I'll be right behind you." Edward said. He didn't want to let them know yet about what happened last night.

"Ok, fine. Mom called. She's leaving in a while to come back. So she might be here when we get home from school." Rosalie told him as she walked towards the kitchen.

"Ok…umm… ugh, I've gotta figure out what to tell her about all this stuff with Bella. She's not going to understand it easily." Edward said, standing by the staircase.

"You got that right. But I guess if I can deal with it, she can too." Rosalie said as she came back around the corner with a yogurt and spoon in her hand.

"Thanks." Edward said with a condescending smirk to his sister.

"You love me, and you know it." Rosalie said, skipping up to Edward and giving him a peck on the cheek. "Jasper, come on!" Rosalie yelled up the stairs.

"I'm coming, impatient!" Jasper yelled from upstairs.

"Wow, you two really are twins." Edward said with a laugh.

Rosalie turned and smacked his arm.

"Hey!" Edward said, wincing at the shock.

"You're in the mix too, need I remind you." Rosalie said with a laugh.

"Don't remind me." Edward said, laughing with her. "I'm going to shower. I'll see you at school." Then he ran up stairs and into the shower. He started thinking about everything with Bella and how things were progressing so fast. He knew he needed to figure out what he was feeling for her. He came to the conclusion that he would let it come naturally. Even though this was an extraordinary circumstance, like Bella said. He wouldn't let that deter him. He was determined to let this play out, and hope that he could be with Bella. He certainly didn't want to be without her. She seemed to be an extension of him now. Whatever happened to him, affected her somehow. And vice versa. He needed to figure out what his feelings for her really were.

He finished his shower and rushed to get dressed. He ran to his car and drove to school.

When Edward pulled up to school, he saw Bella's car parked beside Alice's Porsche. So he parked in front of Bella's Jaguar. She was just getting out of her car and Alice and Emmett had been waiting for her. Edward noticed her legs as she got out of the car and had to gulp. He had seen her naked but now as he saw her in a skirt, he noticed it a little more. He looked at the rest of her and loved what he saw. She had on a beautiful green shirt and boots that looked so amazing on her.

She looked up to see him staring at her, and he smiled at her with a longing look.

**Don't give me that look. We have tonight for that. **Bella thought to Edward with a sly grin back to him.

**What's wrong with right now? **Edward thought back to her with sarcasm.

**Well, let's see… school, people, school, your family, school. Do you want me to keep going? **She thought back with the same sarcasm.

**So…** Edward thought.

Then he walked around his car to meet her and hugged her.

"You look incredible." Edward whispered in her ear.

"Thanks." She said back to him. They didn't hold on to each other for long so no one would notice that they were that close yet.

"Let's go. We don't want them getting the wrong idea yet." Bella said laughing.

"Right. Will I see you at lunch?" Edward asked.

"Of course. Why wouldn't you?" Bella asked rhetorically.

They turned and started walking towards the school. Edward noticed Jasper cocking an eyebrow at the two of them. Edward looked at him and said "Not now. Later." He wouldn't say anymore until he talked to his mom. Then the six of them walked into the school.

Edward walked Bella to her first class. She usually had some classes with Alice and Emmett, but some were alone. So she was glad when he walked her to class. It was such a sweet gesture to her. She went through her first few classes just thinking about her and Edward. She couldn't escape his eyes, or how he made her feel completely comfortable. How he never judged her, or made her feel like she was a freak. She could be completely herself with him. And she was.

When she made it to her lunch period, she saw Edward, Jasper and Rosalie walking towards her. Then Emmett and Alice joined her and she walked into the cafeteria. Edward, Jasper and Rosalie came in behind them. Edward walked up behind Bella and was going to try to scare her by pinching her waist. But she saw what he was going to do, and grabbed his wrists as he brought them to her waist.

"Do it and you get hurt." Bella said low enough where he could hear her.

He let his hands hover around her waist, as she was holding them. And then he jerked his hands to her waist and grabbed her.

"Hey." Bella exclaimed.** That will get you into trouble. **Bella thought to him.

**Well you can take it out on me tonight then. **Edward thought to her with a laugh.

He let go of her waist and stood behind her and waited to get their lunch.

When they got to their table, Edward pulled out Bella's chair for her. She just loved that he was that kind of guy.

"Thank you." Bella said with a big grin.

Bella and Edward sat on one side of the round table. Jasper and Rosalie sat next to Edward. And then Alice and Emmett sat on the other side of Bella. They started making conversation and really started feeling like they had last night at the restaurant. They seemed like they were warming up to each other rather well. While they were sitting at lunch, Bella brought her hand to Edward's left leg, and rubbed his leg with her thumb. He didn't mind it in the least. He welcomed a touch from her. He knew her mind well enough that she would want to do something like that. So he brought his hand to hers and rubbed the top of it. No one at the table could really see it. So they just sat there, basking in that small touch.

When they left from lunch, Edward walked Bella to her next class. She gave him an affectionate hug before he could leave. He leaned his head into her neck, where her hair would give him cover to kiss her skin. Just then, everything around them froze. Bella looked around to see people frozen in mid-stride.

"Edward…" Bella said trying to see where his mind was going. But she figured it out rather quickly.

He reached his hands behind her, and grabbed the top of her thighs, and brought her legs up and wrapped them around his waist. She was completely off the ground, against the wall. She grabbed his face and started kissing him fiercely, with him kissing her back the same way. Their breaths became quicker, and they both felt like they wouldn't stop. When Edward brought his lips to Bella's neck, she rolled her head back and thought to herself, **I could stay like this forever.** And before she even realized it, she heard Edward think with a laugh, **that doesn't sound like such a bad idea to me I rather enjoy the thought of forever like this. **

She snapped her head up and looked him in the eye.

"Oh my god. I don't even know why I thought that. It just…" Bella said trying to explain it to him.

"What if I want it though? Wouldn't that be up to me to choose?" Edward asked trying to sound convincing.

"Didn't I tell you that I would never let anything happen to you? And that includes anything that could come from me. I'm nothing if not a girl of my word." Bella said, as she unwrapped herself from his waist.

"Bella, I want to be with you. I don't want to ever be without you. You're too important. What would the harm be if I want to be with you forever? I think about you when I'm not around you. And all I can see in my future is you. So please tell me what's holding you back from considering this. Because I know you can see it too." Edward said.

Bella did see it, in his head and her own. This had been what was rolling around for most of lunch in their heads. Bella wanted to be with him, but she wasn't going to kill him to do it.

"We need to talk about this later. We can't stand here all day. You'll be discovered as witches if the school day goes by in a matter of seconds." Bella said, looking down.

"Fine, but we ARE talking about this." Edward said, then pulled her back to him, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again. "I'll see you in last period."

"Ok. I'll see you." Bella said, and then turned to go into class. When she was inside, the room unfroze. Then the teacher walked in and called the class to order. And everyone started getting to their seats.

When she sat in her seat, Alice and Emmett uncharacteristically, jumped in their seats. They had never seen Bella come in. and they'd be able to see if she came in like a vampire. She literally appeared out of nowhere.

**Wait a second… Did he freeze everything? Because you so weren't there a second ago. We can usually tell, but we never saw you coming. **Alice thought to Bella.

**Yes, he did. We kind of had a moment in the hall and I screwed it up and now I don't know what to do with any of this information. **Bella thought. She purposely blocked it from them so she could figure it out on her own.

**I still can't believe you slept with him. I never thought you would be one to go off like that. You're always the in control one. **Emmett thought to her.

Bella turned to look at them both with a serious look.

**Do not say anything around them about it. Jasper and Rosalie don't know yet. I'm going to let him tell them when he's ready. Rosalie's not going to take it that well. And their mom is coming back today so we have to deal with that too. **She thought to them with sternness. Then turned her face away.

**You know it won't last forever, right? He's not like us. **Emmett thought to her.

**I don't care. I can't be without him. I can't lose him… ever. **Bella thought to them.

Alice and Emmett looked at her with confusion and shock.

**You're really intense about him aren't you? I can see something in your head. Like you're… in love with him or something. **Alice thought.

Bella snapped her head back up to look at Alice with alarm.

**What are you talking about? How can I be in love with him? I've only known him for a couple of days. **Bella thought to them.

Then she began to think it over in her head. The fact that they were so comfortable around each other, the way they looked at each other. How comfortable he was dancing with her, and how much he loved it. How they both bent the rules of their own values to be with each other last night. And they both knew they'd never bend those rules unless they were sure they knew it was right for them. And they KNEW it was right. And the fact that he told her he only saw her in his future. That touched her heart so deeply. And she could see the same thing, but wasn't sure how to go about it. And when they were together last night, they both felt like they were made and molded to fit with each other, perfectly. Even their connection to each other.

She loved his kindness, his protectiveness, his touch, his kiss, how he could see past everything she was and still find her completely amazing. She loved his playfulness, his sincerity, his commitment, his love for his family. She loved the way he looked at her and could see her soul every time. Suddenly it clicked for her.

**I love him… **Bella thought to herself. Then a smile crossed her face that completely touched her eyes.

**I knew it! I could see it in your eyes. You had that look in your eyes the whole time at dinner last night.** Alice thought to her.

Then, Bella thought about what the repercussions of all of this might be. But at the time, it didn't matter. She had to tell him.

She raised her hand hurriedly.

"Miss Jacobs? Can I use the hall pass?" Bella asked in an anxious tone.

"Yes, miss Cullen. Are you ok?" the teacher asked seeing the alarm in Bella's face.

Bella jumped up and ran out with a choked, "No."

She ran fast down the hall, past Edward's classroom.

**Edward, I need you!** Bella thought frantically.

Edward heard her, and immediately thought something was wrong.

He jumped up and interrupted the teacher, "Mr. Alexander, can I be excused? I'm not feeling well."

Mr. Alexander blinked at him and then said, "Yes, of course."

Then Edward ran out of the room, and followed where Bella's thoughts led him. He froze the classes as soon as he was clear of their classrooms. He ran out the double doors, and around to the back of the school, where he heard her thoughts running at a mile a minute. When he came around the corner and saw her, her head snapped up and she looked at him with all the love she felt for him. Which in that moment had magnified itself. Edward saw it in her head. And he realized, it was the same thing for him. He never thought love could come this quickly, but it did. Their connection to each other had only sped it up. And it's what he couldn't figure out earlier. He had been having this nagging feeling since last night. And didn't know what it was. But now that he could see it in her, he knew exactly what it was. Love.

She ran, in a flash to him and wrapped her arms as tightly as she could around his waist, without hurting him. And he hugged her back just as tightly.

"How could you not have seen it in my head before?" Edward asked.

"I don't know. But I love you. And I don't want to ever lose you. I can't." She said, then grabbed his face and kissed him passionately. He grabbed the back of her head and pulled her even closer to kiss her even stronger. They were almost climbing all over each other.  
>"Can we talk… about what this means?" He asked after a few minutes, between their urgent kisses.<p>

Bella didn't want to register what he was asking because that meant that they would have to think about stuff. And she didn't want to.

**Bella, we have to talk about this we can't ignore the fact that this could be the thing we were looking for to happen. **Edward thought to her, trying not to get distracted. But Bella was making it difficult.

But then Bella stopped and looked at him. She knew he had to be right. What if this was what was supposed to happen all along? But 'why' was the major question.

"I don't know why. We may never really know the reason. But can't we figure out where this is going to take us?" Edward asked looking in her eyes.

She shook her head. They both needed to think first then sit down and discuss this. Because this could end up being something that changes anything and everything they thought may or may not happen.

"We need to talk about this tonight. Because this is going to be a long conversation. And we can't stay out here the whole day. There's a whole school that is frozen, and they're going to be suspicious if the next class starts, and we were only ten minutes into the last class. But we will definitely talk about this tonight. But" then she started giving him quick kisses, "I… love you… so… so much. And I… want to… be with you…" Bella said in between kisses.

Edward felt that same surge of energy run through him from hearing that, that he had the night before. But he knew he couldn't lose his control. He needed to go back to class. But he would rather to have stayed here with her. The woman he loved.

Bella heard that in his head, and grabbed him and started kissing his neck.  
>"I love you too Bella. I don't know if I could ever love someone else this much." Edward said. And he knew it was true. Everything seemed to revolve around the two of them and them being together. It just seemed to fit together like a puzzle. Which seemed to be what their whole relationship was. A puzzle that came together perfectly with every moment they spent together. Everything fell into a seemingly already existing relationship that had been going on for years and years. They both could see there would never be anyone else for them.<p>

He kissed her again, then pulled her back towards the school to get back to class. They walked back through the double doors with an arm around each others waist and leaning their heads into the other. And Bella was holding onto his hand that was on her waist. When they reached the door to her class, they stopped and just hugged each other for a while. Neither of them wanted to leave, but they knew they could be together tonight. They knew they could wait. They'd wait forever if they had to. As long as they knew they could be together. Nothing else mattered as long as that was certain.

"I love you today as if tomorrow would never come. Never forget that." Edward said, as he kissed the top of her head.

She looked up to his eyes and felt what he was saying. The feeling in her heart seemed to magnify once again.

"I won't. And don't you ever forget how much I love you too. Three hundred years was long enough to wait for this. But I'd go for another three hundred if I knew you'd be there waiting for me." Bella said.

She kissed him once more and turned to go into her class. Edward unfroze everything as she was turning the knob. Then he turned and went back to his class.

When Bella sat back in her seat in the classroom, she tried her hardest to block out what had just happened from Emmett and Alice. She didn't want them to distract her with anything. They both looked at her though, with confusion. They had seen her try to hide stuff from them before, but never this well. They both knew something was going on.

**What's going on? Did something happen?** Emmett thought to Bella.

She shook her head to keep from letting anything slip through.

**Later. After I've talked to him further. **Bella thought to them.

She stayed focused on keeping them out and thinking about what happened. There was just so much though. This was going to take some time. She had thought through her next two classes without paying any attention to the teacher.

By the time she got to her last class with Edward, she was still holding her thoughts in from Alice and Emmett. But when Edward came into the classroom and sat down with Jasper and Rosalie, she stopped thinking and stared at him for a while, smiling.

**You know, someone is going to notice us just staring at each other the whole class.** Edward thought to her.

**Right now I don't care. I just want to look in your eyes. It brings me peace and happiness. **She thought with a huge grin on her face. But she knew she had to look away.

She saw that Rosalie had a very suspicious look on her face. And Jasper could tell something was up between Edward and Bella, but didn't know for sure what it was. It was a little intriguing to him that they were looking at each other like that.

Bella could hear the teacher coming and looked to the front of the class. Edward looked that way too as the teacher walked in.

All through class, they would sneak a peek at each other, and giggle to themselves where no one could hear. They were in their own little world with each other. Even though there were people all around them, it just seemed like it was the two of them.

When class was over, they let everyone leave the classroom. They gathered their things to leave, and Bella made a straight line to Edward's side. Jasper and Rosalie didn't know what their closeness meant. They had never seen Edward so close with any girl before.

"When are we going to know what's going on?" Rosalie asked, a little impatiently.

"When I get to talk to mom and fill her in on what's been happening. Don't worry; I'm not going to keep you guys in the dark. I just need to see if she is going to be on board with any of this." Edward said.

Rosalie gave up. But she wasn't going to let him forget.

They all started walking out to the parking lot together. Bella and Edward didn't touch, but walked incredibly close to each other, where they were almost touching. When they got out to the cars, Rosalie and Jasper got in Rosalie's car and waited. And Emmett and Alice waited between Emmett's blue Jeep and Alice's Porsche. And Bella and Edward stood between their two cars just looking at each other. They were saying everything with their eyes. Most of the students had already left from the parking lot. There were just a few still straggling around, but not paying attention.

**I love you. I'll see you tonight.** Bella thought to him.

**I love you too. I can't wait.** Edward thought, then leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

Bella had to contain herself. So she did not try to kiss him back. She turned and walked to her car and got in. she had a smile stretching across her face. Edward turned and walked to his car too, and drove home behind Rosalie and Jasper.

When Edward pulled in behind Jasper and Rosalie at their home, he saw his mother's car.

"Shit." He took a deep breath. "Ok, let's get this over with." Edward said to himself.

Then he got out and walked to where his mother was unpacking stuff out of her car.

* * *

><p>So, was it ok? Leave me a review and tell me what ya think.<p>

See you guys Friday!


	10. Chapter 10

Hello again! I'm not gonna bore you guys with my shit right now, since I just updated earlier in the week.

Sooo, usual spiel, SM owns it, not moi. Damn it….

And Lola has been awesome, as usual. muahs

On with the story!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

When Edward came around the side of the car, Jasper and Rosalie were there helping get the last of the stuff inside. Elizabeth looked up and saw her son there.

"Hey sweetie. How was everything while I was gone?" Elizabeth asked, grabbing a box.

"Edward met a girl." Rosalie said, in a taunting sing-song voice.

Edward snapped his head around to stare Rosalie down.

"Rose!" Edward exclaimed.

Rosalie just smirked a little.

"Edward, she's gotta find out sometime. And aren't you the one who just said she needs to know?" Rosalie asked.

"Yes but I would like to talk to her alone about it, if you don't mind." Edward said, glaring at her.

"Fine. If you've got everything, I'm going up to my art room for a while." Rosalie said with a knowing tone. Then turned around and walked inside.

"Well I see there's no love loss there." Elizabeth said with a laugh. "So what's going on? Who's this girl you met?"

Edward looked down at the box he was picking up.

"Can we go inside and talk about this?" Edward asked, with a little bit of panic seeping through, that was just barely noticeable.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and tried to understand what it was that was going on. But she just turned and walked to the house and straight to the living room. She put her box on the floor and sat on the sofa. Edward finally walked in behind her and sat in the chair beside the sofa. Jasper had gone to the garage to work on his car.

"Alright, what's up?" Elizabeth asked.

Edward looked at his hands, and tried to form some logical way of telling her, but there wasn't one.

"Well, for starters, I need you to be completely open, and not freak out about any of this. It's a lot of information to process, and I mean A LOT of information. And Rosalie already freaked out over it." Edward said.

Elizabeth looked at him with concern.

"Ok, now I'm worried." Elizabeth said.

"I know. But I need you to trust my judgment." Edward said.

Elizabeth looked at him with understanding. She didn't know what was going to come from his mouth, but she knew it couldn't be anything that bad. So she waited for him to talk.

"Well, I met a girl the other day, and she's really amazing. But there is something different about her. But I don't see her as that. She's too much of a loving, caring, pure person to be anything bad." Edward said, trying to lead his mother to a higher ground, before he pushed on with what Bella was. Elizabeth still waited.

Edward took a deep breath and continued.

"Ok, well, what she is… is a vampire…" Edward said with caution.

Elizabeth's eyes went wide and then she started panicking.

"WHAT! ARE YOU CRAZY EDWARD? HOW COULD YOU BE HANGING OUT WITH A VAMPIRE? THEY'RE VICIOUS, BLOOD- THIRSTY, HEINOUS, MONSTERS!" Elizabeth started screaming.

Edward tried to intercede.

"She's not any of those things! She's an incredible girl. Please just calm down and let me tell you what has happened." Edward said trying to calm her.

Elizabeth was breathing heavily from panic and worry. But she tried to settle back into the sofa to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Edward proceeded to tell her about what had happened with the voices he was hearing the first day, the spark when he and Bella touched. He told her about the connection that occurred and how close that made them. And the fact that they could see everything from the other's past and he knew she was not a harm to anyone.

"Mom, she's not a bad person. She loves her family. They're vampires too…" Edward said, then Elizabeth cut him off.

"Wait, what? There's more than one here?" Elizabeth asked with alarm.

"Yes, there're nine of them here. So…" Edward said. But he knew this would probably make it worse.

"Oh my God…" She said, putting her hand to her head, "And you're ok with all of this? What if they're here to kill everyone in this town?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, and no. Mom, they're good vampires. They don't kill people, unless they're provoked. And that only happens when they are threatened or someone in their family is threatened. It's just like any human being that protects themselves with self defense. Their hunting habits are limited to animals. The only time they've ever resorted to humans, was when they were in a dyer need. And even then they still don't kill them. They're not bad. I've seen it through her mind. I need you to see that…" Edward said with a little desperation.

Elizabeth noticed a little bit of pain in his face. There was still something he hadn't told her yet.

"What else haven't you told me?" Elizabeth asked.

Edward closed his eyes. He knew this would be what would send her over the edge into hysterics.

"Please don't freak out about what I'm about to tell you…" He waited to gauge her emotional state.

She sat there waiting again.

"I'm in love with her… and… we sort of… slept together last night…" He said, and waited to see her reaction that he knew was coming.

Tears started rolling down her face.

"Mom, I need you to understand all of this. I know it's unreasonable for any of this to happen, especially this fast. But I am eighteen, and I need you to trust my decision and judgment on this. I know everything there is to know about her. And the same goes for her. We have no clue why any of this has happened, but we came to the conclusion that it might be that we're meant to be together. So that's why we're spending time together so we can see where things take us." Edward said, almost pleading.

"It seems you've already seen where things take you two…" Elizabeth choked out in a whisper.

"Please, don't hold it against her. I'm not ashamed of what we did, or of her. And I don't see her as a vampire. I see her as a normal girl. Her being a vampire doesn't faze me." Edward said, trying to convince her.

"I don't really know what to say about this. And I don't know if I'm going to be ok with any of it…" Elizabeth said trying to sound calm.

Edward nodded, hoping she could be understanding.

"Mom," he took her hand in his, "I know I can't make you be ok with this, but can you at least understand why I'm doing this. Didn't you do whatever you could to be with dad? You're both witches, and were able to make it work. I need to see if I can make this work with her. If it's going in that direction." Edward said.

"Yes, I did whatever I could to be with your father. And you see what happened to him, didn't you?" Elizabeth said with another tear running down her face.

"No one knew that was going to happen to dad. No one ever knows what's going to happen. But I'm not afraid to find out." Edward said with certainty.

Elizabeth was a little shocked that he was so determined to go through with whatever this was.

"You really care about her don't you?" Elizabeth asked.

"I love her, mom. I never even thought I could find someone as amazing as she is. Ever." Edward said, looking her in the eye.

Elizabeth was at a loss.

"I DO trust you Edward. But a vampire that I've never met, much less ever met one before, I don't know if I can trust her. I know you said you know everything about her, but you're dropping this on me when I thought we were getting away from using powers, witch hunters, and anything else supernatural. And I don't know if I can process all of this right now. I'm going to need some time to think this through." Elizabeth said, pulling her lip in and biting it.

Edward nodded. "Ok. Can you at least try to accept her for what she is? She's very important to me. And she's gonna be part of my life either way. Our connection isn't going away. It seems to keep growing actually. But I would really love if you could be on board with us. It would really mean so much to me if you were." Edward said with pleading eyes to his mother.

Elizabeth closed her eyes with more tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Edward, I'll try. But this is not what I wanted for any of you. I didn't want any of you to get any deeper into the supernatural." Elizabeth said, trying to hold back the tears.

"This is my choice. And Jasper and Rosalie don't know everything yet, but they know what she is and about our connection. They don't know that we're in love and we were together last night. But I guess I'll have to tell them. Neither of them is going to let me forget about it." Edward said.

"I'm not going to make a guarantee, sweetie." Elizabeth said.

Edward nodded again. "Well, I AM going to see her tonight…" He said, seeing if she might be ok with it. But she didn't say anything. Edward decided he was going to go ahead and leave. So he got up and kissed his mother on the head.

"I love you mom." He said and started to walk away.

Elizabeth spoke up then. "Can I meet her sometime?" She asked.

Edward stopped and turned to look at her a little shocked.

"Yeah. I'll bring her by tomorrow, if that's ok." Edward said, seeing if she would be able to accept things by then.

Elizabeth nodded, "I think that would be fine. Maybe once I meet her, I could get a better grip on this. Are you going to be home tonight?" Elizabeth asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Edward paused before he answered. "I don't think so. We've wanted to spend whatever time we can together. And if that means staying up most of the night talking, then we'll do that. But please don't worry, she'd never do anything to hurt me. I know that." Edward said.

Elizabeth took a deep breath, and looked up at him. "Please just be careful. And I don't mean it as just the nagging mother. Please be careful getting involved with a vampire. It could turn out horribly."

"I am. Nothing bad is going to happen. I'll see you tomorrow." Edward said, then turned and walked out the back door.

He walked down the stairs out to the garage where Jasper was under his car, working on it. He leaned up against the hood, where he knew Jasper could hear him.

"Alright Jazz,… I slept with her last night…" Edward said over the open hood.

"Yes! I fucking knew it had to be something like that. You two were so much more intense around each other today at school then you were last night. How was it?" Jasper asked, being his nosy self.

"You would ask that, wouldn't you?" Edward asked jokingly.

Jasper came out from under the car and stood by Edward against the car.

"Hey, what can your brother ask if he can't ask about that?" Jasper asked with a laugh.

"…It was amazing… just like she is. I'm in love with her…" Edward said, waiting for a reaction.

Jasper looked at him a little disbelieving.

"Wow… I guess we should have seen that one coming too. Something was obvious in the parking lot this afternoon." Jasper said.

"Were we really that obvious about it?" Edward asked not realizing that people noticed it.

"Yeah, it kind of was then. Just the way you looked at each other without talking. Unless you were talking in your heads. It was weird that it looked like a completely deep conversation between the two of you." Jasper said.

"The only thing we said in our heads was that we loved each other. We just looked at each other the rest of the time." Edward said.

"Well, you would have never known otherwise." Jasper said.

Edward took a breath, and stood straight up.

"Ok, well, I'm going to go see her. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Edward said then started walking to his car.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, big bro!" Jasper yelled after him.

Edward looked up at him as he was getting in his car and jokingly gave him the finger. Jasper laughed and went back to work on his car. Edward got in and drove back out of the driveway. It was already getting dark when he left. So when he made it to Bella's driveway, it was really dark going around the curves.

When he drove up to the house, it was completely lit up on the bottom floor. There were lights along the ground, the entire way around the house. And then lights all along the ceiling of the porch. He could see the inside lights lit up subtly. Not bright, but just enough. It was serene.

He saw a flash of light turn off on the second floor from the side of the house that he couldn't see. Then he saw Bella running down the stairs inside, and through the front door. She leapt off the steps and ran straight in to Edward's arms, tackling him to the ground. He landed on his back, wrapping his arms around her waist. She kissed him passionately and he pulled her face closer to his.

When they finally broke the kiss, she looked down at him, and started showering his face with kisses.

"Wow, if I'm gonna get this kind of reception when I see you every time, I'll leave more often." Edward said with a laugh.

Bella was still showering his face with kisses, "No, don't leave. It's too hard being away from you." She said, teasingly, between kisses.

He laughed under her. "You know we can handle it. I really did miss you." Edward said, kissing her on the lips.

"I missed you too." She said, kissing him once more. "Do you want dinner? I'm cooking." Then she jumped up, and grabbed his hands and pulled him up too.

"Sure. That sounds great." Edward said, then they wrapped an arm around each other's waist. And walked up the stairs, and in the front door. He could hear the music that Bella was playing in the house, and appreciated her choice in music. They walked towards the kitchen, and then Edward saw what she was planning for dinner.

"Wow, you really know how to get to a man's heart don't you? Gumbo?" Edward asked making sure he had it right.

"Very good." She smiled. "My mom's from New Orleans, so it one of our favorite things to make. We like to keep up with things from there through history. I hope you like it." Bella said as she started getting things together to cook.

"If you make it, there's no way I couldn't love it. Just tell me what I need to do." Edward said, leaning against the counter.

Bella looked over at him, "Well, you can come over here and start cutting this up." Bella said, handing him the sausage.

Edward walked over to the counter and took the sausage and started cutting it up. While they worked on dinner, Edward could see where everything was in the kitchen from Bella's head. So he didn't have to ask questions. The whole time, they didn't really talk because they knew what the other was thinking and what the other was doing. If one of them needed something the other had, they would hand it over without a word. To someone on the outside, it would look like a carefully thought out routine. It looked almost like they were dancing around the kitchen. They never got in the other's way, or made it difficult. They were literally in sync with each other. When they were done cooking, they sat down at the dining room table, beside each other. While they ate, Bella brought her hand to Edward's leg, like she had at lunch, and rubbed her thumb on the side. They had a silent conversation. They both knew they would wait for the conversation they needed to have.

When they were done eating, they cleaned up the kitchen together, and then walked out to the back deck with an arm around the other's waist. It seemed like their favorite way to be close, without climbing all over each other, and holding hands wasn't enough for either of them. So this was a happy medium for both of them. As they walked out on the deck, they noticed how clear it was out that night. And the peaceful sounds that they heard the previous night in the meadow. And the openness of the area just seemed so serene and happy.

Bella turned and hopped up onto the banister, and sat there facing Edward. He walked over and stood in front of her and looked at her. He took her hands in his and played with her fingers.

"So… can we talk about what all of this means for us now? I mean, where do we go from here?" Edward asked, then looked up at her.

"Well, I want to know what you want. I'm not aging, so I need to know what you want out of this life, if I'm going to be a part of it." Bella said, trying to see if he changed his mind about the little slip up she made earlier about forever.

"Bella, I want us to be together. And yes, I want it to be forever. I don't want to go through life knowing I'm going to have to leave you one day. I want us to be equals, and have no barrier between us." Edward said, looking down at their hands. Then he looked up into her eyes with all of the sincerity and love he had in him. "I want to marry you."

Bella put one of her hands on the back of his neck and pulled his face towards her, so their foreheads were touching. She knew this was probably what he wanted. But she wasn't sure if she could do it. Marrying him was not the problem. Turning him into a vampire might be.

"Edward, I've never turned someone before. I don't know if I can do it. And you being a witch, it could end up killing you. I've never seen a witch become one of us. I don't know what the combination of the two could bring. I do love you, and I want to marry you, and I want to be with you forever, more than anything. But I don't know if I can risk your life in changing you. I would never forgive myself if I killed you." Bella said with a sad undertone.

Edward put both of his hands on either side of her face and looked straight in her eyes again.

"I know how far into the depths of darkness I'm willing to go to be with you. I will take my chances if it means there's a chance that I'll never lose you. I trust you so implicitly. I know you can do it. You are what I want my forever to be." He said with so much passion.

Bella saw how serious he was about this. And she knew if he could have this much confidence in her, then she could somehow do it. That passion and confidence he had, made her feel almost powerful. Like, with him by her side, she could do anything. It made her emotions surge.

She grabbed his face and kissed him, and wrapped her legs around his waist. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back eagerly. While he was still kissing her, he picked her up off the railing, and turned and walked to the oversized lounge chair that could double as a bed. He laid both of them down on it and continued kissing her without breaking the kiss. Their tongues were plunging into each other's mouths, and hands were exploring the other's body. Edward could feel himself getting hard. And Bella saw it, which aroused her too. Bella grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head and started undoing his jeans. Once those were off, he pulled Bella's skirt down, because she already had her shirt off. Edward started kissing up her body. He loved how her skin tasted. It tasted like sweet strawberries.

Bella looked down at him and quirked an eyebrow at him. She could see where he was heading, and she was excited. He made his way up to her panties, grabbed them with his teeth, and slowly pulled them down. Once he returned, he licked all around her core, looking in her eyes for any objection. But all he saw was excitement and desire. So he stuck his tongue in and started licking inside her. She dropped her head back and started letting out soft little moans and pants. That made him even harder. She let out a louder moan when he started licking faster, then she constricted around him and her legs stiffened as she came.

She pulled him up to her face and started kissing him, and rolled them over so she was on top. Edward laid there on his back, and she situated herself onto his erection. When he was inside her, Edward grabbed her thighs as she was rocking and pushed her down, hard, onto him. They both let out loud groans, throwing their heads back. After he did that a few times, he grabbed her breast with his hand, and started massaging. Bella arched her back towards him, letting him know that she liked it. Then he sat up, pulled her chest to him and licked her breasts. She wrapped her arms around his neck, still rocking on top of him. She leaned her head down to his neck and started kissing. Then licked a line up to his ear, grabbing onto it and biting it a little. He let out another moan.

**Oh my god! You know all of my right buttons to push, don't you? **Edward thought to her, not pulling away from her chest.

"I make it a point to… You certainly know mine." She said between pants.

He smiled into her chest.

They could both feel their climax building inside of them. So Bella started rocking a little faster. And when they came, both of their arms squeezed around each other as tightly as they could, as loud moans escaped their mouths.

Bella leaned her head back down to his neck and started kissing it again, tenderly. Edward laid back onto the lounge chair while they both came back down from their euphoric high.

As they lay there, a thought coursed through Edward's mind. Bella's head snapped up to look him in the eye. The look on her face was shock.

"Are you crazy? I'm not taking your blood. I can't." Bella said with sternness.

"I want you to do it. I want a part of me with you." Edward said, with pleading eyes.

She closed her eyes and put her head on his chest.  
>"Edward… it would hurt you. And I said I would not hurt you in any way." Bella said trying to reason with him.<p>

"I said the same about you too. And didn't I hurt you last night? We were both virgins before last night, so I had to have hurt you." Edward said.

She sat straight up on his lap, and he propped himself up on his elbows.

"I'm a vampire; I have a high threshold for pain. That's why it never registered to you if it had hurt me. But you're a human, and I can hurt you so much worse than that ever could have come close to hurting me last night." Bella said.

"I don't care. I want to at least prepare myself somehow." He said, knowing this might ease some of her worries about changing him.

She saw that in his head, and wondered of it would ease her at all. She knew as long as she wasn't changing him tonight, that it might not be as bad. She knew she would need some form of blood in the next couple of days. And if she had human blood in her system, she would be able to go for a longer period. She still thought this was a bad idea for him. But she knew they would have to do this at some point. And why not now while no one was around to distract them or make a fuss?

"Ok." She said, closing her eyes. "But it's only going to be a little bit."

"Ok." He said, waiting for her to go ahead.

She looked down at his body to see where she could do it. And concluded that maybe the chest would be ok. She rubbed her hand over the spot she had chosen, letting him know this was where she was going to bite.

He nodded his head and braced himself for whatever pain might come from her bite. But he knew he could take it, because he loved her.

"I love you too." She said, looking up at him one more time.

She tried her hardest to try to make it not hurt so much. Her lips hovered over the spot. She kissed it once, and then cautiously bared her teeth and placed them on his skin. He was still bracing himself, holding onto the side of the lounge chair. She grabbed one of his hands to hold on to, and he squeezed her hand.

Then she gently bit down, and tasted his blood. It was such an inconceivably, amazing taste. Edward squeezed her hand tightly, not because it hurt, but because it was ecstasy to feel her bite into his skin.

She wasn't sure how much she could take, so she slowed down. Then slowly pulled her teeth back from his skin.

Edward looked at her, to see if something was wrong, but he could see that it wasn't. She licked the spot over where she bit him. There was an enzyme in a vampire's system that would allow them to heal a bite, if they licked over it. It also applied when a vampire changed someone and injected their venom into the wound from their teeth. When she was done, she looked up at him, to see him staring at her. The look he saw in her eyes was one of pure bliss.

"Are you ok?" She asked, making sure she didn't miss something.

"I'm fine. I was just wondering why you didn't take more." Edward said.

"I didn't know how much time it would really take to have enough blood get back into your system. And it would make you weaker if I took much more. So I'm taking baby steps. We'll see how it goes later." She said.

Edward nodded, then pulled her up to him so that she could lay with him. She rested her face on his chest. And he leaned his face onto the top of her head. And occasionally would lean his head in and kiss her hair.

Something else started playing around in Edward's head.

"Can I go buy you a ring now?" He asked, looking down at her.

She looked up into his eyes and smiled.

"Only if you really want to." She said, then giggled.

He laughed too. "Do you want anything specific, or do you want it to be a surprise?" He asked very curiously.

"Hmm… I want it to be something that you pick out. Something that comes from your heart. And I already know what's in your heart, so I know it would be perfect." She said, then reached up and kissed him. "So what about a wedding date? What would be too soon?" she asked, as she settled back into his chest.

"Nothing's too soon for me." He said with a laugh, and she joined in. "But I guess a little bit of time would be ok. We do have to think about our families. We might want to think about when you can change me to do the wedding around that time… I don't want to wait though… I want to marry you and join you now." Edward said with seriousness in his voice.

"Edward, I want you to join me and marry me as soon as possible too, so what about Christmas? Would that give you enough time to spend with your family?" Bella asked.

"A month? Personally I wouldn't want to wait that long, but I would want to give my family at least that much time to let them adjust to the thought of me becoming one of you. What about the day after Christmas? That would allow me to spend the holidays with my family one more time." Edward said.

"You'll be able to spend holidays with them for a few more years, just not as this." She said touching his body. "And that's the only other thing that bothers me… It's killing me that I'm taking you away from them, when you've just lost your father to the super natural."

"Stop…" He looked down at her. "This is what I want. We can deal with it when it comes. I know they're going to have a problem with it. But it won't matter whether we do it sooner or later. They might come around later, but I don't want to wait for them to be ok with it. I know we can handle anything. But I want them to be a part of it. Christmas looks like it will be fine for us to get married. I'll just have to try to get them to see what I see in you. Which, getting them to see exactly what I see in you might be impossible, but at least get them to see that you're not a monster." Edward said, dragging his fingers lightly up and down the bare skin on her back, with his other hand on her face.

She smiled wide at him. "Ok, the day after Christmas it is. I just hope you can get them on board by then. My family will be ok with what I decide to do. They've been around me for three hundred years, so they know my judgment well enough. But you're right, we can handle it. And I think we can figure out a simple wedding in time." She said, laying her head back on his chest. Then she started thinking of where they could have it. Then she pooped her head back up and looked him in the eye.

"The meadow?" Edward asked, seeing it in her head.

"Why not? The gazebo is right there by the water, it's beautiful, and peaceful, and perfect. Not to mention it's where we spent our first night together." She said with a laugh. It felt so odd that it had just been last night that they were there together. And now they were talking about getting married, changing him into a vampire, and spending forever together. But the uniqueness of the situation fit them so completely. And the love they felt for each other was so overpowering. They were so magnetized towards each other. They loved being around each other, and they didn't even have to talk. Just holding each other, and being there was enough for them.

They laid there for a while just holding each other. Then Edward spoke up and asked, "What about us moving in together? When do you think we can do that? I mean do you want to wait until we're married, or do it right away. I know the wedding is only a month from now, but we need to figure out if we should go ahead and look or wait." He wanted to get the details working so they could start working on their future together.

"Well, I'd like to do it sooner, rather than later. I think us waiting for every time my parents are gone, or going to the meadow every night, is going to get old. Maybe since there's no school tomorrow, we can look around then." Bella suggested.

"Isn't tomorrow Thanksgiving? Doesn't your family celebrate it?" Edward asked.

"We do. Hmmm, maybe your family could come here for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night. That way they could all meet one another. We've got to do that at some point. So why not then?" Bella asked rhetorically.

"That sounds great. My mom wants to meet you, so I'm sure she'll want to meet your parents too." Edward said.

"Great. I usually cook, because it's always just me, Em and Alice eating. But we still usually have enough to feed several families. So you don't have to bring anything." She said with a laugh. She put her left hand on his arm and rubbed it with her thumb.

He laughed with her. "Ok, sounds good. We can still look around tomorrow. I think the real estate woman we used to find our house, doesn't have any family so she doesn't really do a big Thanksgiving. She may be able to show us a few things even with it being a holiday." Edward said.

"Oh the little old lady at the real estate office? Yeah she usually will show anything, anytime. Even holidays. She's dedicated to her clients. And I know she wouldn't talk to anyone about, you know, two young teenagers looking for a house to buy." Bella said.

"Even better." Edward said with a small laugh.

They continued to lie there, just holding each other for a while.

Bella was thinking they might want to go upstairs so he could sleep a little more comfortably.

"I'm not that tired, but that might help me wind down a little." Edward said, then sat up, bringing her with him. He kissed her on the lips again, and they started looking for their clothes.

"Well, at least my boxers are still intact this time." Edward said with a joking laugh. And Bella joined in the laughter.

They were putting their clothes on as they walked in the house. As they reached the stairs to the second floor, hand in hand, Edward started getting a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. Then Bella started feeling it too, and panicked. She tried to zone in on what it was, and then something hit her.

"Edward… where's Rose?" She asked as she turned around on the stairs to look at him, with fear etched on her face.

* * *

><p>Ok, shit's about to start getting real. Next chapter is very touchy. It's something that is close to me, so please be patient about it. I will leave markers where some may not want to read about, so you won't miss much in the story, but it's…. I'm just gonna wait and explain more in the next chapter an, so you're prepared then.

Leave me a review!


	11. Chapter 11

Hey everyone! Ok, so I know I told y'all last time I would explain a little better about this chapter, so I will. Like I said, this chapter is a subject that is very close to me, it's not cool, it's not fun, it's sad and scary sometimes. But I tried to make it as low key as I could, but still had to put some points in there. This chapter deals with rape, and I've put * marks where you can skip it if you want. I'm giving you fair warning now if you don't want to proceed.

And we're getting the usual done, Lola(LaurieWhitlock) is my beta, and mafia sister;)

And SM owns it, not I.

On with the story.

* * *

><p>Last time on The DOD:<p>

_Bella was thinking they might want to go upstairs so he could sleep a little more comfortably._

"_I'm not that tired, but that might help me wind down a little." Edward said, then sat up, bringing her with him. He kissed her on the lips again, and they started looking for their clothes. _

"_Well, at least my boxers are still intact this time." Edward said with a joking laugh. And Bella joined in the laughter. _

_They were putting their clothes on as they walked in the house. As they reached the stairs to the second floor, hand in hand, Edward started getting a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. Then Bella started feeling it too, and panicked. She tried to zone in on what it was, and then something hit her._

"_Edward… where's Rose?" She asked as she turned around on the stairs to look at him, with fear etched on her face._

**Chapter 11**

"I'm not sure… Why? Are you seeing something?" Edward asked.

Bella WAS seeing something, and feeling something too. But she couldn't figure out why. She hadn't been able to see or feel anything from Rosalie or Jasper before. But she realized, since Edward, Jasper and Rosalie had their own connection to each other, somehow, it was trickling into her own mind. It seemed that since her connection to Edward was so strong, that she was tapping into his connection to his siblings. And since she was a vampire, it was being amplified to where she felt what was happening. Edward's connection to his siblings was limited to just feeling when something was wrong with the other. Or when one was in distress. And one of them was in real distress right now. It started out fuzzy, but she could definitely feel that Rosalie was in trouble. Bella could see Rosalie walking and a shadow following behind her. Panic and fear coursed through Bella's mind.

"Bella, what is that? Why can you feel that? And what's going on?" Edward asked trying to contemplate what was going on.

"I'm not sure, but…" She cut herself off. She started seeing clearly, a man, maybe in his early twenties, walking towards a girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Eyes that held fear and terror. The same eyes that were staring Bella in the face at that moment.

She shook her head trying to understand. She now saw the man's eyes. They were filled with a dominating desire. Then Bella started violently shaking. And her chest started heaving like she was trying to catch her breath.

"Edward…" She started, but he was seeing what was happening in her head. His eyes went wide with rage. He started breathing heavily.

"What do we do?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"We've gotta go… Now!" She said then ran back down the stairs, dragging him behind her. "I'm gonna have to carry you."

He couldn't even nod to her. And she slung him around on her back and took of as fast as she could run. Everything turned into a blur around them. Edward couldn't tell where they were going. All he could see was what was in Bella's head. From what Bella could see, they were on the edge of town, where the park was.

*The man that had been stalking towards Rosalie, grabbed her from behind, by the arms.  
>"Oh God." Bella said, feeling the same thing Rosalie was. The man had a strong grip on Rosalie's arms. And he started to try to kiss her. Rosalie was starting to scream. It seemed to make the man more excited. He grabbed her hair and pulled her into the darker part of the park that was open, but very secluded.<p>

"Oh my God, Edward, he's gonna rape her." She told him, seeing the man's intention clearly on his face.

She knew she was going to need help for this.

**Em, Alice… Get to the park, now! Rosalie's in trouble.** Bella thought to the two of them.

She could see that Alice and Emmett were already running out of their houses as soon as she sent the message to them.

**We're already on the way.** Emmett thought to Bella.

Bella was still seeing what was going on, no matter how hard she tried not to. They were about half way there, when she saw the man ripping Rosalie's clothes.

Bella could feel Edward's fist balling up in anger. He wanted to beat the hell out of this guy.

"Not until I'm finished with him." Bella said, seeing what he was wanting to do to the guy.

They saw that the man had pulled his pants down and started trying to kiss her and she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Bella saw how much it excited the man, and he started raping her. Bella's eyes started filling with tears off pain and anger. She was already running as fast as she could, but somehow picked up the pace a little to get to Rosalie. She had to.

Bella was feeling what was happening and it made her body shake as she was running. Edward was trying as hard as he could not to see in her mind. But the images just kept coming. Neither of them could stop them.

"Oh my God… He's hurting her!" She cried.

She felt how the man was pushing into Rosalie, as if it were her. She knew she couldn't let this get to her though.

They were coming into the park, and could clearly hear Rosalie's screams. Edward could see that she was going to stop and drop him from her back so she could go after the guy. She could see the man through the trees as they got closer. And she was seeing red now.

"You go take care of her." Bella said as she paused, and let him off her back. Then she ran straight for the man hurting Rosalie. She plowed into the man on top of Rosalie, sending him flying across the open space. She ran over to where he landed and threw him back across the small open clearing, where he landed at the bottom of a tree trunk. She wasn't going to let him get out of this alive.*

Edward ran to Rosalie's side and held her, trying to pull her clothes back over her. They were torn so badly, but he did his best to cover her up. And she was crying hysterically, and shaking violently.

"Rosie,… look at me…" Edward said with a few tears staining his face.

She slowly looked up to him.

"Ho… how did… you find me…" She asked between heaving cries. She could barely breathe. Edward pulled her to his chest and started rubbing her back soothingly. She started crying into his chest, grabbing onto his shirt.

"Don't worry, I'll explain later." Edward said, trying to comfort her.

Edward looked over Rosalie's shoulder, and saw that Bella was holding the man down, and Emmett and Alice were just arriving. Emmett saw Rosalie on the ground and Bella saw a few tears run down his face.

Bella looked over at Edward and knew Rosalie wasn't ready to be moved quite yet. So she was going to let Edward try to calm her a little.

He saw what she was planning to do with the man. And he had no objections.

**Just make him suffer before you do it.** Edward thought to Bella.

**Don't worry, we will. But it's going to be quick so I can get back here to you both.** Bella thought to him.

**She'll be ok for a little while. Go do what you need to.** He thought back to her.

"Get him out of here." Bella said. Then added in thought, **Let's take him to the mountains.**

Emmett and Alice took of, dragging the man by his arms through the trees and out of sight.

Bella looked back to Edward and Rosalie. "I'll be right back." She said to them.

Edward nodded and continued rubbing Rosalie's back while she still cried in his chest.

He watched in Bella's head, as they ran through the trees to the other side of town, and up to the top of one of the mountains. He saw them beat the man to hell. Just before they going to kill him, Bella had to check with Edward to be certain.

**Edward, I already know your answer, but I need to be sure before we do this.** Bella thought to him.

**Just do it. **He thought to her. Him raping his sister was already enough but now, he had seen Bella, Alice and Emmett as vampires, and in a rage. So his survival would only put them in danger.** He's already collateral damage, isn't he? **Edward thought.

**I don't care right now if he's seen us. Fear would do the trick. But I'd gladly rip him limb from limb for what he did to Rosalie. But I'm willing to settle for making it look like he fell down the mountain.** Bella thought.

**As long as it's painful for him. **Edward thought.

He watched as Emmett and Alice threw the man down the mountain. He was pleased this man wouldn't be able to make it to civilization before he would certainly die from internal injuries and blood loss. Although he would have gladly let them drain the man's body. But it wouldn't have gone with the cover of him falling down the mountain. So he knew they would have to resist.

**Bella, she needs to get to a hospital to get checked out. **Edward thought to Bella.

They started running back towards town.

**My dad is a doctor, Alice can get him and meet us at your house. He can examine her without us getting anyone else involved. It wouldn't be easy to explain any of this at a hospital. We can keep it within the families.** Bella thought to him.

**Ok.** He thought back.

When Bella and Emmett came back into the clearing in the park, Rosalie was still crying, but it wasn't the hysterical cries it was before. Edward was rocking her back and forth trying to calm her more.

Bella knelt down in front of them to see how Rosalie was. She could see how visibly shaken up she was and wasn't sure if she would let anyone touch her.

"Rosalie, we're gonna try to get you home so someone can take a look at you. But I'm gonna need to carry you. Are you ok with that?" Bella asked in a calming voice.

Rosalie sat there not moving or saying anything for a few minutes. But then, she pulled away from Edward and held her arms up so that Bella could pick her up. Rosalie seemed like a small child in that moment, not saying anything, and holding her arms out to be picked up. Bella picked her up gently and tucked her into her arms. Edward stood up and guessed Emmett was going to carry him back to his house.

Emmett walked over to Edward and knelt down for Edward to jump on his back.

"Don't get used to this. I'll leave this to your girlfriend in the future." He said as he pulled him around onto his back.

"I know. And thank you for this." Edward said with sincerity.

Bella and Emmett took off in a sprint towards Edward's house. It wasn't long before they were running up the driveway to the Masen house.

They stopped for a moment while Emmett dropped Edward from his back. And they walked up the stairs of the house. When Bella walked in the front door, she saw Jasper pacing around the house. Jasper looked up from the kitchen doorway, and saw Bella walk in the house holding Rosalie in her arms. Jasper started walking towards them when Edward and Emmett walked in behind her.

Bella walked over to the sofa sitting down on it to gently lay Rosalie down so she could get checked out.

"What the hell happened? I could tell something was happening to her but didn't know what it was." Jasper asked with panic, seeing his sister disheveled and still crying.  
>Edward held up a finger telling him to wait a minute so he could explain.<p>

Alice and Bella's father, Carlisle, walked in then and he walked over to Rosalie to check on her. Carlisle had a presence about him. He had blond hair, topaz eyes, and youthful features in his face. There seemed to be a wide range of ages this man could pull off easily. He was such a handsome man.

But Bella could feel the panic in Rosalie's body as she started crying a little harder.

"Rosalie, shh, shh, he's a doctor. He's not going to hurt you. I promise." Bella said trying to sooth her panic.

"Is he a vampire?" Rosalie asked with tears still rolling down her face.

"Yes, Rosalie. He's my father. He's never had a problem being around blood. So don't worry." Bella said. Rosalie's panic eased a little bit but she still couldn't stop crying.

"Edward, why don't you go find your mother and explain what happened. I'll come with you if you want." Bella said to him, and started to stand up.

Rosalie grabbed onto Bella's arm, "No, don't leave me alone." She cried to her.

Bella wasn't sure what to do. So she sat back down on the couch and held Rosalie's hand. "It's ok, I'm not going anywhere if you don't want me to." Bella said, soothingly.

Edward nodded to her, and walked towards his mother's room, grabbing Jasper's arm to get him to follow.

"We'll be outside so she can have some privacy." Alice said.

As Edward and Jasper were walking down the hall to their mother's room, Jasper couldn't wait anymore.

"Edward, what happened to her?" Jasper whispered with anger and fear because he couldn't understand why the vampires were all here, and Rosalie was so attached to Bella.

"She was rapped Jazz. I'll explain what happened, but we have to talk to mom too. Bella's dad is a doctor so he's going to check her out and see if she needs further medical attention." Edward said as they turned to their mother's door down the hall.  
>Jasper had to hold back his screams of anguish, but turned and punched the wall beside him, leaving a fist size hole.<p>

Edward knocked on the door rapidly, "Mom, we need you. Something happened and I need to talk to you." He called through the door.

"Come on in." Elizabeth called.

Edward and Jasper walked in the room and shut the door behind them.

They saw their mother in her chair by the window, reading. She put down her book when she saw the scared, worried looks on their faces.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Elizabeth asked, starting to fear that the vampires had done something.

They walked over to where she was, and Jasper sat in the other chair, beside his mother, and Edward stood.

Edward tried to figure out where to start, but he just went for it.

"Rosalie was rapped…"He started, and then his mother threw her hands over her mother to cover her scream of fear.

"Let me explain what happened… Bella and I were at her house and I felt what was happening. Like you Jasper, I wasn't sure what it was at first. But then, because of mine and Bella's connection, somehow she was feeling it too, and then she started seeing it. Which in turn, I was then able to see it too. I don't really know why it happened that way, but I'm grateful it did, because we were able to get to her. So when we saw what was going to happen, we ran like hell to find her. She was in the park on the edge of town. And I'm still not sure why she was there. But we could see this man walking behind her. And when he grabbed her we both knew what he was going to do. So Bella used her connection to Alice and Emmett to get them to meet us there. And when we got there, Bella knocked him off of her and threw him into a tree. Rosalie doesn't know this, but Bella, Alice and Emmett took him up to one of the mountains, and beat the hell out of him and… made it look like an accident, by throwing him down the side of the mountain. Hopefully he's still out there suffering and slowly dying. Bella carried her back here, and Alice got Bella's father to come examine her. He's a doctor and will take good care of her. He's out there right now checking her out. She is actually clinging onto Bella right now. I didn't realize she would get that attached to her that fast." Edward said, then looked to Bella's mind to see what was going on.

In the living room, Rosalie had a tight grip on Bella's hand. And every time Carlisle touched her, she would flinch, and squeeze Bella's hand harder. Bella felt so bad, she actually put an arm around Rosalie to try to calm her, and rested her head on top of Rosalie's.

"What were you doing out there so late, sweetie?" Bella asked in a low, soothing voice.

Rosalie tried to slow her crying so that she could talk where someone could understand her.

"I was… in town earlier… at one of the stores… and I started talking to this guy… who was nineteen or twenty… And he asked me… if I wanted to meet him for a walk… in the park later tonight…" She paused because tears were streaming down her face again.

"It's ok, Rosalie, it's ok, he's not going to hurt you anymore. I promise you." Bella whispered to her.

"He seemed nice enough… I guess my judge of character… is a little off. But when he got there, he… started getting grabby and I started walking away from him…" Rosalie said then Bella interceded, "I saw what happened after that… and felt it… I'm so sorry we didn't get to you sooner, sweetie." Bella said, putting her free hand to the side of Rosalie's face.

Rosalie looked up at her.

"Are you kidding?… You saved me from him. I can't even think of what would have happened if you hadn't gotten there. There is no possible way I can thank you enough for saving me." Rosalie said, her crying slowly subsiding.

"You don't have to thank me. You're Edward's sister, and I'm not going to standby and let someone get away with doing something like that to you." Bella said.

"How did you see it anyways?" Rosalie asked, trying to understand what had happened.

"I'll explain it later. You need to calm down and rest." Bella said, rubbing her thumb soothingly on the side of her face.

Rosalie was quiet for a few minutes, then wondered, "Can I ask what happened to him?".

"You don't ever have to worry about him. And that's all you need to know." Bella said, trying to be evasive and not tell her exactly what they did to the guy.

Rosalie guessed that they may have killed him, and didn't have an objection to it. But wasn't sure. So she wasn't going to ask. At least not tonight.

Carlisle was finished examining Rosalie.

"You are very lucky he didn't get any further than he did. But I'm going to give you a couple of pills as precautions. I will run some tests, off the record of the hospital, of course. And if I find anything, I will let you know. But you seem to be ok, overall. Other than obvious PTSD. But if you want, I can get you set up with a therapist. Alice's mother, Charlotte, is a therapist and can keep it quiet. It would always stay within this group of families." Carlisle explained to her.

Rosalie nodded with a tear rolling down her face.

"That would be great. Thank you for that, and thank you so much for coming. I don't think I could handle a hospital right now." Rosalie said, and extended her hand to shake his.

"Anytime. I'm glad to help. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call me. Should I talk to your mother and let her know how you are?" Carlisle asked.

"Sure. I don't think I can explain it all to her yet." Rosalie said.

"I'll let Edward know." Bella said.

**Edward, my dad's through. He wants to explain things to your mom.** She thought to him.

**Ok, I'll bring her out there in a second.** Edward thought back.

"They'll be out in a minute. He's trying to explain what happened to her." Bella said.  
>Carlisle stood up and went to stand by the door.<p>

"I hope you can explain it to me soon, because I'm so confused." Rosalie said, still wondering what happened.

"I will, just not right now. You need to get to bed and rest. I know you're exhausted and your body has too much tension in it right now." Bella said.

"I think I need some water though. Can you come with me to the kitchen? I feel really sore… I just need to get up for a couple of minutes." Rosalie asked as she sat up.

"Of course." Bella agreed and stood to help Rosalie up.

Rosalie took Bella's hands, stood and started to walk to the kitchen.

In Elizabeth's room, their mother was still trying to come to grips with what had happened to her daughter, with tears still streaming down her face. But was so thankful that someone was able to get to Rosalie and stop it. She was starting to have a great appreciation for Bella, even though she hasn't met her yet. She was still grateful that she was around to help her daughter.

"Mom, the doctor's done with Rosalie. I think he wants to talk to you." Edward said to his mother.

Elizabeth tried to compose herself, and stood up and walked to the door. They walked down the hall and entered the living room to see a man standing by the front door. Elizabeth stopped when she saw him and wasn't sure what to do. Carlisle walked over to her and shook her hand and started explaining how Rosalie was.

Edward walked into the kitchen while they talked and saw Rosalie standing by the sink, drinking a glass of water.

He walked up behind Bella and kissed her neck. Rosalie jumped when she realized he was there. And then he walked over to Rosalie and put an arm around her.

"Sorry. How are you feeling? You look a little better." Edward asked.

"Still jumpy, obviously, but… I think I'll be ok." Rosalie told him, as she was trying to breathe deeply.

"We're gonna help you get through this. You do seem to have calmed down a lot since I saw you last. I'm proud of you for that." Edward said, rubbing her arm.

"Thank you both so much. You don't know how much this means to me." Rosalie said, leaning her head on Edward's shoulder. Edward pulled his other arm around and hugged her. Bella stood there quietly, not wanting to be intrusive. Rosalie let go of Edward and walked over to Bella and hugged her too. Rosalie closed her eyes and whispered to Bella, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Bella said, hugging her back.

They turned and started walking back to the living room. When Elizabeth saw Rosalie, she made a straight line for her. She grabbed Rosalie and hugged her so tightly. "Oh my God, I'm so glad you're safe." Elizabeth said, not wanting to let Rosalie go.

Rosalie started crying again. Not as heavily as before, but still crying. She thought she was completely out of tears, but they still came.

"I'm ok mom… I'll be fine…" Rosalie started, but couldn't keep going.

Carlisle had quietly exited, leaving the pills for Rosalie to take, with instructions, on the coffee table.

Elizabeth finally let go of Rosalie to look at her. Then she looked over at Bella, and was in awe of how beautiful she was.

"You must be Bella… I'm Elizabeth Masen." Elizabeth said, slowly extending her hand to shake Bella's.

Bella took her hand without a second thought. "Yes ma'am, I'm Bella Cullen. I'm so glad to finally meet. Although I wish it didn't have to be this way." Bella said, shaking her hand.

They let go, but Elizabeth had the urge to hug her for what she did for Rosalie. So she did.

"Thank you for saving her. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough for the bravery and protection you've showed for her." Elizabeth said.

Bella returned the hug, "Don't worry about it. She's a part of Edward's family, so I would do anything to protect her. And the rest of you." she said.

They let go of each other after a moment. Jasper had come around and was holding onto Rosalie now.

"I think I need to go up to bed now. I'm really exhausted. I'll see you all in the morning… Will one of you stay with me tonight?… I don't… really want to be alone right now." She said as she started to go towards the stairs.

"I'll come up and stay with you." Jasper said, walking over to her to help her up the stairs.

"Thanks. And thank you again Bella. You have no idea how grateful I am." Rosalie said.

"I'll stay here tonight, if it's ok with you, and keep an ear out for her. If that will make you more comfortable." She asked, looking at Elizabeth at first, then turning to Rosalie.

"Would you? That would definitely make me feel a little more at ease. Mom, can she?" She looked to her mother, pleadingly.

Elizabeth looked to Bella, and wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but if it would help Rosalie, she could find a way to deal with it.

Elizabeth took a deep breath, "Sure." She said, then turned to Bella, "Do you sleep at all?" She asked.

"No, I don't. so I'd be able to hear her through the whole night if she needed something." Bella said, trying to reassure Elizabeth.

"Ok then. Go on up to bed sweetheart. We can talk in the morning." Elizabeth said.

Then Rosalie turned back to the stairs and went up to her room.

Edward put an arm around Bella's shoulder, and brought her into his body. And she brought her arms around his waist and hugged him.

"Well, mom, since you've met Bella now, we were talking earlier if we could all get together tomorrow night for dinner at her house for Thanksgiving. Do you think we could do that? I mean we haven't exactly gotten any plans together for it ourselves, so I thought it might be a good idea to get together and everyone can meet each other. And I don't think Rosalie should stay cooped up in this house the hole time. She needs to be around people. And where better than a house full of vampires that will protect her." Edward suggested.

"Well, it'll just be us, my parents, and Alice and Emmett. Their parents come sometimes, but it usually depends on when they're hunting." Bella said, then wasn't sure if she should keep going with that kind of talk. "Oh, sorry… I don't mean to talk vampire in front of you if it makes you uncomfortable. I'm just used to being able to say things like that around Edward."

"Don't worry. I guess I can get used to it. Well I guess, since we don't have any plans already, and I would love to meet your family, it would be lovely to come for dinner. Should we bring anything?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, we'll take care of everything." Bella said.

"I'm sorry for being so insensitive about this stuff, but do you even eat, dear?" Elizabeth asked.

Bella had to laugh a little. "Yes, I do eat. But not all the time. I do… hunt. But I can survive off of either. Food, I just have to eat more of if I'm going that way. It's a little weird, but half-human, half-vampires end up differently than normal ones." Bella said.

"Half-human, half-vampire?" Elizabeth asked, not realizing one could exist, much less that there were vampires before knowing about her.

"Yeah, my mother had me right before she was turned into a vampire. And my dad's a vampire. So when I was born, I was a half-human, half-vampire. And when I was eighteen, they changed me into a full vampire. But I still kept some of the same tendencies I had before. And Alice, Emmett and I formed a connection where we can hear each other's thoughts. So it's hard to try to hide anything from each other. Kind of like how it is with Edward and me now. He pretty much knows everything about me. And I know everything about him. Although he does have a lot more to process than I do. I AM slightly older than he is." Bella said.

Edward laughed, "Yeah, three hundred years is a little more than slightly older than me." He said.

Bella laughed with him.

"Woah, three hundred? Wow." Elizabeth said in pure shock.

"I'm actually… three hundred and nineteen. We… don't age." She told Elizabeth.

"Hmm, well then that makes two of us that has a lot to process. I still am in shock that there are vampires around but to actually meet one, and know things about her is… a lot. Now I can understand how you must feel Edward. And I probably don't even know a small fraction of what you do. But I guess there's a reason for you two being this way." Elizabeth said.

"Mom, we can always talk about this more tomorrow. I know you're tired. We'll stay down here and I'll sleep on the couch. You go get some rest." He said, walking over and hugging her.

"Ok, I'll see you both in the morning. Good night." She said, as she turned to head to her bedroom.

"Good night mom." Edward called to her.

"Good night Mrs. Masen." Bella called to her too.

Elizabeth stopped, and turned back to her. "Call me Elizabeth, dear."

Bella nodded to her with a smile. Then Elizabeth smiled back, and walked to her room.

Edward and Bella walked over to the sofa, and Bella sat down first and then Edward laid down, laying his head in her lap. "So how do we handle this with Rosalie? I mean, I don't want her to feel like we're hovering, so should we try to give her some space? I don't want her to be alone but I don't want to crowd her." Edward asked, wrapping an arm around Bella's legs.

"Well, it's probably a good idea. She needs your support, but if she feels like people are breathing down her neck, she may close up and not want to do anything anymore. You need to give her options of things to do to get her mind off of things. I know she's going to be jumpy around men for a while, so maybe do things where there aren't that many people around. Take her hiking, a walk, things where she can feel comfortable. Take her easel, and a canvas out and let her paint nature. She can't stay cooped up forever. It's the only way she'll get through this. With support, and distractions. And treating her like the same old Rosalie will help too. Just as long as you're all cautious around her. There is a fine line to walk while dealing with something like this, but getting her back to her old self will help. You have to balance it out to get her there. She will need loads of therapy as well." Bella explained. Bella started running her fingers lightly through his short hair.

"So do we try to carry on with our everyday lives? Like… I don't know, looking for a house tomorrow, and us being able to be together at night? If we try to give her space to breathe?" Edward asked, trying to figure out how they could juggle their lives with keeping Rosalie occupied.

Bella had to think for a moment.

"Well, I suppose we could still do that. Just as long as someone is with her so she will feel somewhat safe. But yes, going on with our everyday lives would be good for us to do. I may see if she would like to come help me cook tomorrow so she's out of the house and doing something. And we'll see where it goes day by day. She will definitely have her good and bad days. So you have to be ready for both." Bella said.

"I guess I'm being a little selfish wanting to still do what we had planned. I still want to make sure she's comfortable, don't get me wrong. But it's just that I still want to work on our lives together." Edward said, feeling guilty for wanting to go forward.

"Hey, we still can. We just have to be flexible. We can help Rosalie out and still plan our future. It'll be fine. Try to get some sleep." She said, then leaned down and kissed his head and whispered, "I love you so much."

Edward grabbed around her legs and pulled them up on the couch beside him, so she was somewhat laying across the sofa with him.

"I love you too." Edward whispered back, still laying his head in her lap.

She wrapped her arms around him and lightly ran her fingers up and down his back, like he obviously liked. He finally drifted off to sleep, laying in Bella's arms.

* * *

><p>Please don't hurt me… *hiding behind couch* I know it was a rough chapter, sorry.<p>

Things will get better for Rosie. Maybe not the rest of the family… we'll get there in another chapter or two.

Hope to see you guys back here next week!


	12. Chapter 12

Hiya! Ok, so not a whole lot to go over with you. This chapter is longer than most of my other ones, so enjoy.

Lola is my beta, if you haven't figured it out by now.

And SM owns Twilight, not I. *sad face*

Read on.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

During the night, Bella could hear how restless Rosalie was. She could hear her jolt up in her bed a couple of times. She would be breathing heavily. But never sounded really panicked. She seemed to calm down almost instantly a couple of times. But once, she woke up, and started crying. She hesitated to run up there to check on her, but this time she did go up. She lightly lifted Edward's head from her lap and let him lay on the sofa. She ran upstairs quickly and entered Rosalie's room and saw her with her head buried in her pillows. She slowly walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. Rosalie never noticed, until Bella lightly asked, "Rose, are you ok?"

Rosalie flinched a little, but realized it was Bella.

"I'm fine. I just… had a nightmare… It seemed too real. I felt like I was back in the park… and he was kissing me…" Rosalie said then stopped. Her crying wasn't nearly as heavy as it had been earlier in the evening, but she still had to hide her face to cry into her pillow.

Bella placed her hand on Rosalie's back and started rubbing soothing circles.

"Rosalie, I won't let anything happen to you. If it's in my power, I'll protect you from anything I can. But we're also going to try to get you back to your old self. You're a strong girl who can take care of herself… actually; I was wondering why you didn't freeze him…or… something…" Bella asked.

Rosalie looked up at her. "I panicked. And the fact that I've been trying so hard not to use my powers lately, I got out of the habit of doing it. I don't know why I didn't just blow his sorry ass away."

Bella took a deep breath. "Well, we're going to get you to where you can deal with using your powers again. I don't want you to feel vulnerable like tonight. Even if you're panicking. Maybe even get you to take some self defense classes. Something that will help you feel safe again on your own. But, we'll get things sorted out later. Go back to sleep. I'm right downstairs if you need me and Jasper's still over there." Bella said, looking over her shoulder to where Jasper was sleeping in the chair Rosalie had by the window across the room. "Are you gonna be able to go back to sleep?" she asked.

Rosalie took a calming breath, and straighten herself out in her bed. She pulled her blanket around her shoulders, and looked up at Bella and gave her a smile. "Yeah, I think I can. Thank you again." Rosalie said. Then Bella started to turn back to the door when Rosalie reached for her arm. Bella stopped and turned to look at her. "I'm so glad my brother has you."

That sent a tear down Bella's cheek. She wiped it away quickly. Then she reached up to Rosalie's face and put her hand on her cheek. "Get some sleep sweetie. I'll see you in the morning."

She exited Rosalie's room, quietly shutting the door behind her. She scrubbed her hands down her face as she returned downstairs to where Edward was on the sofa. She lightly lifted his head so she could sit back in her position from before. She sat there thinking about all of the stuff that had happened in the past few days until the sun came up in the morning.

She continued running her fingers through Edward's hair as he slept. But he could feel the sun coming through the windows into the living room. He woke to the feel of loving fingers in his hair. He pulled his arm to her legs and hugged them. He rolled to his stomach to look up at her. He saw a perplexed look on her face.

"What's wrong? I can tell something's been bugging you during the night, what was it?" Edward asked.

She looked down at him with an apologetic look. She didn't want to tell him everything she had thought about during the night, but would at least tell him one thing. "I'm sorry. Rosalie woke up several times during the night and I went up there once to check on her. And she was telling me about what happened and we talked for a few minutes. And when I went to leave, she told me how glad she was that you had me." She said with another tear coming down her cheek. "I never even realized that her attitude about me had changed so drastically, from when she first found out I was a vampire, until after we brought her home last night. But that sentence just hit home for me for some reason. Like she just completely lost any doubts about me, and completely accepted me." She wiped the tear away.

"You saved her from a rapist, Bella. And very well her life, too. That earns a lot of trust for people. The way she responded to you last night was amazing. Like she never wanted you to leave her side. I'm just as grateful that you saved her." He said as he kissed her hand.

"I've just never been… I don't know… revered like that." She said, sorting it out.

"With one exception…" He said, looking up in her eyes with a smile.

She looked back in his eyes and had to laugh a little. "Not even close to as much as you do." She smiled and leaned down and kissed him. "Why don't I go start breakfast? I hear your mother's awake."

They got up and went to the kitchen and fixed breakfast for everyone. When Rosalie and Jasper came downstairs, they were shocked to see Edward and Bella cooking. It was usually their mother doing it. But they both sat on the stools at the bar and watched the way they both moved in the kitchen. They actually gaped at how they never faltered with anything they did. They never moved in the other's way, they gave the other what they needed if they didn't have it right in front of them. It was just like last night at Bella's, but now they had an audience. Edward looked up and saw how Jasper and Rosalie were looking at them. Not realizing that they had been there for a few minutes already.

"What?" Edward asked.

"Nothing, it's just weird to see you two like this. You're just so damn synchronized. You don't even bother each other like most of the time when we're wrecking the kitchen." Jasper said with a laugh.

"Well, we're just different. The whole mind connection thing keeps us doing the right thing with each other." Edward explained.

Bella looked up at him sideways with a sly look, and smile wryly. Edward saw the look on her face and they both laughed together.

"Eww, are you guys being dirty?" Jasper asked with a jokingly sick look on his face.

"So what if we were? At least you don't have to hear it." Edward said with another laugh.

Bella nudged Edward's hip with her own.

"How are you feeling Rosalie? Did you get anymore sleep?" Bella asked.

"I feel a little better. Just sore. Yeah, I slept a little more, just not as peacefully as I'd like to." Rosalie said.

Jasper rubbed her back and she flinched slightly but eased herself back into the stool.

"It's ok, it's just going to take time for you to feel comfortable again. Even around your family." Bella said.

Rosalie had a contemplative look on her face. "I feel comfortable around all of you, I just feel so jumpy all the time. Like even the slightest movement makes me jump." Rosalie said with a hard line in her lips.

"It'll pass. It won't go away over night. Alice's mother, Charlotte, will help you through it easily. She's very good at dealing with this kind of thing. You should have no problem adjusting back." Bella said.

"Thank you guys for being so supportive." Rosalie said.

They all smiled at her. They would never let her go through this alone.

Bella and Edward were just finishing cooking breakfast when Elizabeth appeared in the archway to the kitchen. She looked at the beautiful breakfast that was on the counter and was surprised.

"Morning mom." Edward said when he saw her come in.

"Good morning. Wow. This looks great. But you didn't have to cook. I would have been happy to do it." Elizabeth said.

"Oh it's fine mom. Bella's a nurturing kind of person. She loves to take care of people. You should have seen what she cooked for me last night." Edward said with a slight laugh.

"Anything that has to do with chocolate syrup?" Jasper asked jokingly.

Rosalie elbowed him. "Christ, Jazz, could you get your mind out of the gutter for ten minutes while we eat?"

Bella had turned to the sink, when she heard something from Edward.

**You know, that might not be a bad idea.** Edward thought to her.  
>Bella turned around, with wide eyes, and threw the kitchen towel at his head.<p>

He flinched when he felt it. "Hey!" He exclaimed.

Bella arched an eyebrow at him with a knowing look.

"See…" Jasper said, pointing towards Edward and Bella.

"Jasper…" Elizabeth looked at him with a stern look.

Jasper gave up. Then they all went to the table and ate their breakfast comfortably. No awkwardness or anything. Kind of like it was with Alice and Emmett at Angelo's. Elizabeth still felt nervous around Bella, but never let it faze her. She wasn't going to let her kids think she couldn't handle it when they obviously could.

After they finished breakfast, and cleaned up the kitchen, Rosalie had agreed to come by and help Bella with Thanksgiving dinner. She knew it would keep her occupied.

Bella ran to pick up Rosalie's car where she left it the previous night, while Edward went upstairs to take a shower. Bella was back just as Edward was starting to get dressed. She went up to his room, and knocked to find him putting on his jeans. She stood there in his doorway just watching him.

"You know, we've slept together twice, and we've never seen the other's room." Bella said, glancing up at him.

She heard Jasper poke his head out of his room. "That was an over-share Bella!" Jasper said jokingly.

"You're welcome!" Bella and Edward both yelled back at him with a smile.

Bella walked in to the room further to wait for him to finish. She started thinking about what they talked about last night at her house. And she wondered what kind of vampire he would turn out to be.

Edward looked over at her, seeing what she was thinking.

"Are you worried or something?" Edward asked.

She chuckled. "No, just curious as to what all of that's going to become." She said waving to his body.

"Well it's not like I'm going to become an animal or anything. I'm still gonna be me, right?" Edward asked, but knew it wasn't anything to worry about.

"You know what I mean. I just wonder if anything about you WILL change. You are a witch, and I don't know if anything about you will change or if you're still gonna be the same wonderful man that I love." Bella said as she grabbed his hand.

"You have got to stop worrying about this all the time. You know we can get through it, together. We're never gonna be stronger than when we're together, remember?" He asked.

"I know. It still scares the hell out of me to think about what will happen to you because you're a witch. And I hate that you have to be the guinea pig to find out." Bella said.

"We'll be fine. I promise." Edward said as he pulled her hand up to kiss it. Then he leaned in and kissed her. It started out innocently, but they let both of their minds wander to each other and their time last night. And all they wanted was to make their way to the bed. Bella smiled into the kiss and suddenly flipped Edward over her head, where he landed on his back, on the bed. She flipped backwards with him, landing on the bed, straddling him.

"You know if you wanted to be on top, all you had to do was ask." Edward said with a smirk on his face.

Bella leaned down and whispered in his ear, "We have time for that later. Now get dressed. I'm going to get my car. Rosalie's is out back." Then she licked his ear, and jumped up and went to the door. But before she got there, Edward waved his hand and the door slammed shut. And then he jumped up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered into her ear, "Not even a little bit of time right now? We can look for a house tomorrow."

"Edward, as tempting as that is, and it REALLY is, we have to go do this. We can tonight though. Now finish getting dressed. I'll be back soon." She said, and leaned back and kissed him. Then she went out the door, winking at him as she shut his door.

Then she ran through the woods back to her house. When she got there, her father was walking out of the house.

"How's Rosalie this morning?" Carlisle asked, walking down the front stairs.

"She had a rough night sleeping, but she was ok, considering. I'm just glad it wasn't worse than it was. But I know if she goes to see Char about it, she'll be able to handle it. Rosalie's not going to let this get the best of her. But she has all of us to help her through it." Bella said, sitting on the barrier wall by the garage.

"Alice told me a little bit about how you found out she was being attacked. I still can't believe you saw it happen." Carlisle said, leaning against the wall beside her.

Bella thought back to last night when everything happened.

"I'm still not sure how exactly everything happened, but as far as I can tell, mine and Edward's connection intensified because of his connection with his siblings. It seemed to just filter through both of us. He knows when something's wrong with Jasper or Rosalie, and our own connection is so deep that I somehow tapped into their connection. So not only did I feel that something was wrong, but I felt what was happening and saw it. It freaked me out, but I didn't have enough time to let the whole thing set into my head before I ran out of here. But we got there and got rid of him. And I sat with Edward while he was sleeping last night, and hated myself for what we did. You know I've never been ok with us killing people. Even when it's justified." Bella said, putting her face in her hands.

Carlisle tried to comfort her. "Bella, you were protecting the family of the man you love. And yes I can tell that you love him just by how the two of you are around each other. Even that first day. But you cannot beat yourself up over this. We're not like normal people. When we see our family being hurt or in trouble, we react. We're closer than any other coven of our kind because we ARE a family. We have a greater bond than the rest of the vampires out there. It was only the natural thing for you to go after that guy last night. Because you were brought up to protect your family, and in three hundred years, the only people you've ever killed, were the ones who were a serious threat to killing us. You've never gone off and killed someone on purpose…" Carlisle said, and then saw the look on Bella's face. It was a look of defeat and failure. "Bella, what is it?"

"Dad, I did kill someone on purpose." She said, then paused to figure out what to tell him. "It was years ago. A guy came after me and he tried to rape me. He was a vampire and a tracker, so I knew if I was to just get away, he would come after me. So I fought him off and killed and burned him. I know he was a vampire, but I've never been on my own, killing someone. Emmett and Alice are the only ones that knew about it…" She stopped and thought about it. "I didn't realize that that's probably the reason I reacted like I did last night and was so protective of Rosalie. But it still doesn't make me feel any better about the fact that I killed someone. It never sits well with me." Bella said.

"It doesn't sit well with any of us, sweetie. But none of the rest of us has the kind of heart that the three of you have. You're different than the rest of us. You feel more guilt after something like that happens. Your conscience is more enveloped with your being. Ours is still there, we just don't have the reactions that you, Alice and Emmett have to things. And I think it makes the three of you more human than any of us. Don't berate yourself for having a conscience. We've been through this before. You can't keep doing this every time this comes up. I know it's not easy for you or the others, but it's just something you've got to work through on your own. Not one of us knows what it's like to have that going through our heads. You three are the only ones who can understand it." Carlisle said, and hugged her.

She hugged him back, "Thanks dad. I know I've gotta get used to it somehow when we've already had to deal with it so much already."

Carlisle hugged her again, and kissed her on top of her head.

"I've gotta get going. Just try to get your head away from how it makes you feel. You've been through enough and handled yourself well as it is." Carlisle said.

"Thanks again, dad. I'll see you later." Bella said. Then Carlisle walked to his car and left.

Bella turned and ran inside and took a quick shower. She changed and grabbed her car and sped back to Edward's house to get him. She knew she had to continue to try to keep this as far away from Edward's mind as she could. She didn't know how he would react to this information.

When she arrived back at the Masen house, she could hear Edward, Rosalie and Jasper were sitting in the living room laughing when she walked up the steps. Edward jumped up and ran to the door after he heard her thoughts approach.

"Hey there, gorgeous." He said as he opened the door.

"You know, hearing that from you makes me feel like the most beautiful thing on earth." Bella said as she walked towards him and kissed him.

"Well to me, you are." He said, kissing her back. "So are you ready to go?"

"Yep." She said to him. **Did you tell them anything?** She thought.

**No. I just told them we were going to go into town** **for a while and then get the rest of the stuff for dinner today.** He thought back to her.

"You're gonna make a great vampire one day." She said, kissing his nose. Being able to easily convince people was something that had to be perfected when you're a vampire.

"Did someone say the 'V' word over there?" Jasper asked from the couch.

"Sorry, the vampire said it." Edward said, joking around with Jasper to try to cover up what Bella had actually said.

"Well what's going on? I know you two don't usually use the word, so something must be going on for you to actually say it." Jasper said. He could always tell when someone was hiding something or didn't want to tell him about something.

"Jasper, just don't worry about it. You'll know soon enough." Edward said.

"Woah, woah, woah. Ok now I definitely know something's up. I want in on it." Jasper said, getting up and walking over to where they stood.

"Jasper, don't start this now. You guys will find out tonight." Edward said, trying to get him to drop it.

"No fair." Jasper complained, faking a pout.

Edward and Bella both laughed at him.

"Fine, be that way. So are we all still going to Bella's tonight?" Jasper asked.

"Yep. We'll be back a little later and I'll get Rosalie and she's gonna come help me cook. I may teach her some of my famous recipes." Bella said with a laugh.

"Good, she could use all the help she could get." Jasper said under his breath.

"I heard that Jasper Wyatt Masen!" Rosalie yelled from the living room then came running to where Jasper stood and jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck trying to tackle him. "You know what? My cooking is not that bad. At least I can boil an egg, unlike some people."

"Hey, that was not my fault." Jasper said, spinning Rosalie around and playfully fighting with her arm around his neck.

"Ha! You didn't even fully cover the eggs with water. Don't give me that crap about me not being able to cook!" Rosalie said, laughing and still trying to tackle her brother.

"You guys are just too much sometimes." Edward said, laughing at his siblings, while Bella laughed along.

"He's right. I don't know how I didn't know it was just the two of you that were the twins. You two clearly are so much alike." Bella said, still laughing.

"Hey, it's not my fault I ended up with him as a twin." Rosalie said, in a laughing fit as they fell to the floor. None of them could stop their laughing as Elizabeth walked in and saw them on the floor.

"Let me guess. Jasper started it." Elizabeth said looking down at Rosalie and Jasper on the floor and Edward and Bella in the doorway.

They all started laughing harder. Rosalie and Jasper actually had tears running down their faces by the time they could start breathing again.

Elizabeth stood there smiling at them. She was glad to see that Rosalie was laughing. She was afraid her experience would completely shut her off.

"Alright, alright. Edward, you two need to get going for what you've gotta get done. And Rosalie, Dr. Brandon should be here soon. She called earlier. She has time, so she decided to go ahead and come by to see if you wanted to talk." Elizabeth said.

Rosalie and Jasper were still on the floor together.

"That's fine mom. I'd like to go ahead and get this kind of stuff over with so I can move on with my life." Rosalie said.

"That's so good, sweetie. I'm proud of you for wanting to get this off your chest and not bottle it up." Elizabeth said.

Rosalie looked down, not really knowing what to say to her.

"Thanks mom." was all she could say.

Just then, they all turned to look as a brand new black Mustang came around the curve of the driveway and stopped abruptly, with music blaring.

"She always has great timing." Bella said with a chuckle. "And a fan of the 100 Monkeys." She laughed again.

Rosalie and Jasper both got up and then Rosalie punched Jasper's arm. "No more cracks about my cooking skills."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Jasper said sarcastically.

A woman with long, flowing dark blonde hair stepped out of the Mustang. She had such beautiful skin and facial features that she almost looked like she was in her twenty's. But she could have pulled off an early thirty's look. She was so youthful looking that it was almost criminal for someone who was supposed to be a mother… a mother of a powerful vampire, and a vampire herself. She was wearing a beautiful white, long sleeved peasant top with dark flared jeans, and black boots that just made her look so classic. She took off her sunglasses as she came up to the stairs of the house, and looking at Bella. The other's noticed her beautiful, topaz eyes. It was almost breathtaking to see them.

"I heard that Bella." Charlotte said sweetly joking, and leaned into hug Bella, "You do know that Garrett and Kate are flipping their lids about the whole situation with you and him, right?" She whispered so no one could hear.

"Yeah, well they'll have to accept it. If they saw it for themselves, they wouldn't question me." Bella whispered just as low. As they parted, Charlotte looked over to Rosalie, and stuck her hand out to her.

"Rosalie?" She spoke softly to her.

"Yeah, that's me. I guess you know what happened. Or at least the drift of it." Rosalie said, shaking Charlotte's hand.

"Carlisle told me a little about it last night. And Alice told me what she knew." She said, looking to Bella, then back to Rosalie. "But I want to see how I can make sure you're on a good track to being yourself. It very well could be a while until you feel totally like your old self. And if you don't want to let anyone know about what happened, we'll figure out a way to mask the symptoms for now. I don't want you to worry that this will be a 'looming' effect on you." Charlotte said with a smile.

"Thank you. That's all I want. To be myself and not let this take over my life." Rosalie said, fiddling with her hair. She knew she had nothing to be nervous about, but it still felt totally personal to her about what happened. But she trusted Bella and Carlisle with all of this. Bella was the reason she was standing here. She knew she'd never guide her down the wrong path.

"Well Charlotte, this is Rosalie's mom, Elizabeth, and her twin, Jasper. And their brother, Edward." Bella said, pointing them out.

"Hi, Charlotte. I'm so grateful for you coming to do this for her." Elizabeth said, shaking Charlotte's hand.

"It's so good to meet you all. Well, Bella is family. And I would never want someone to deal with something like this without some guidance. And I don't want any of you to be afraid of me. Alice said you all knew about us, but I'm not mad about it or anything. And we're not all blood-thirsty monsters. We do know some of those, but we try to keep them away. So Rosalie, do you want to go in and talk?" Charlotte asked politely.

"That would be great." Rosalie said, and then turned to Edward and Bella. "You guys will be back soon, won't you?"

"Of course we will. And don't think you're getting out of helping me this afternoon, either." Bella teased her.

Rosalie smiled and hugged her and Edward before she turned to walk back into the house. Charlotte followed her in.

"Ok, we're going to take off. We'll see you guys later." Edward said, grabbing Bella around the waist and pulling her back out the door.

"Bye." Elizabeth and Jasper said as they walked out.

Edward and Bella met with the realtor when they left. They had looked through some of the listings they had and narrowed down to about three houses to go look at. They were all two story houses. One German style, one Queen Anne, and one Italian inspired. They were all very beautiful but very different styles.

The first one they looked at was a German style home that was white with the dark brown beams crossing over the white of the outside. The doors had a slight arch to the top of them. And lots of greenery bushes all around, in a rounded pattern in the front yard. It looked very picturesque, like it came straight out of Germany. On the inside, there were dark beams on the ceiling in every room of the house. All of the walls were an aged white color. In the living room, there was a dark colored fireplace that went all the way up the wall, and had big stones as the hearth. There was an opening to the second floor in the living room. And around the top of the room, was a balcony to the top floor. There were stone floors through the bottom floor, and hardwood on the top floor. The dark criss-crossing beam look continued into the kitchen, on the walls and cabinets. There were hints of yellow through the kitchen to brighten it up. The master bedroom was large, and kept with the dark beam look everywhere. There were beautiful, large windows on two of the walls, but they weren't ornate. The back yard was simple with lots of boxwood bushes all around, making a beautiful outline through the yard all the way to the wooded forest.

They thought this was an amazing house. So simple with an old world feeling to it.

The second house they looked at was also a two story home. It was a Queen Anne inspired house with beautiful, simple carvings along the outside. It was all white on the outside and a huge, wide wrap-around porch. And on the side of the house, was a large roof deck coming off of the master bedroom. There were tons of rose bushes, flowering trees, and endless kinds of flowers making a beautiful path through the yard, all the way down to a stream. It seemed to be a runoff from the river at Bella's house. Which made sense because they weren't but a few miles from her home.

The inside of the house was gorgeous. The living room had a huge stone fireplace that took up half of the wall. The stones were very big and grey. It looked like it was part of a mountain of rocks; there was no pattern to them. There was a great big bay window in the living room that had a spacious bench under it that looked so perfect. There were dark cherry hardwood floors throughout the bottom floor. The kitchen had four huge dark wood beams running the length of the ceiling. The walls were a light shade of blue, with white cabinets. And a farmhouse sink that was situated under a large window overlooking the flowers in the back yard. In the middle of the kitchen, there were two large kitchen islands and one had a small sink in it. Everything was very open from the kitchen, to the breakfast area, to the large circular dining room. When you walked up the stairs, you walk up to a set of large dark wood double doors. The master bedroom was a dream and took up the entire second story. It was enormous and had double doors that opened to the rooftop porch. The master bathroom was spacious and inviting. There was a separate shower and a very large Jacuzzi tub. Along with a long, double sink counter, with cabinets all around the mirror. There was wrought iron details all around. The dark wrought iron offset the white of the walls. It made it so clean and beautiful. They loved the porch on the roof, off the master bedroom. It was set into the side of the second story and had a wall of widows on either side of the double doors. The more they walked around the house, the more they fell in love with it. It was very much their combined style. They could see themselves here for many years. They knew they couldn't stay here for eternity, but this house was something that they would find a way to always keep. Even replicate.

They didn't even need to go look at the third house. They were completely sold on the Queen Anne house. They talked to the realtor and signed an offer for the house and waited.

When they were done at the realtor's office, they went into town and looked around for a little bit. Edward knew he wanted to look for her ring. And Bella could see the wheels turning in his head. So she decided to go to the dress store and look about a wedding dress. She knew what she wanted, but wasn't sure if she'd be able to find it in this small town. But she would still look. She knew she'd find it, or have Alice make it. She was quite keen on that idea since she had a very specific idea of what she wanted. So Edward walked over to the jewelry store that was on Main St. And Bella walked to the dress store a few streets over.

While Edward was looking at rings, he started to experiment with blocking things from Bella. He knew it would take practice, but it wouldn't be long before he gave the ring to her. He looked around and found many gorgeous rings, but still didn't see what he was looking for. He was taking a last look around the store, and spotted what very well could have been the exact image of what he had in his mind for Bella.

"Excuse me ma'am, can I see this ring?" Edward said point at the glass case.

"Certainly." The older woman said. She opened up the case and pulled the ring out and handed it to him. "It's definitely a unique ring. We don't have that many like this, but we like to keep a variety of things here."

He looked at the ring and marveled at how amazing it was. It was platinum, with two ribbings on either side of the diamond, and the diamond was beveled into the platinum.

It was completely simple, yet so unique.

"It's perfect for her. I'll take it." Edward said, not taking his eyes off the ring. He eventually had to put the ring in a box to take home.

He walked out of the jewelry store and decided to see if he could feel his way towards Bella, to find out if their connection worked that way too. He still didn't know where everything was in this town, so he thought, **Why not?**

He took a left out of the jewelry store and walked to the end of the street. He felt around with his mind to see if he could 'feel' her. And he did. He took off down the street, not really realizing where he was or what street he was on. But he came up outside of a dress shop, and stood outside for a moment. He looked for her mind inside the store and found her in the dressing room, trying on a few dresses she found. He watched her for a minute and admired how truly amazingly beautiful she was. He wondered if she was still that beautiful before she became a full vampire.

**Apparently I was. **Bella thought, then laughed. **You know you can come back here. I'm not sure I'm gonna find what I want here. I'm too picky. You know me.**

Edward smiled to himself, and then walked in the store to the back where he felt Bella was at. As he walked back, she pulled the curtain back and saw a vision of absolute beauty in front of him.

"Seeing as this is not the dress I'm going to wear, I thought I'd at least give you an idea of what you're in for." She said with a smirk.

"Well then I may just be begging you to turn me right there in the gazebo if you look anymore stunning than this." He said as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. She did the same. He just held her there for a few minutes.

"Can I take you somewhere before we go back to the house?" He asked, still holding her.

"Of course. I need to get out of this dress though." She said with a laugh.

Edward looked back at her, quirking his eyebrow.

"We're so not going there right now." Bella said with another laugh. Then went back into the dressing room to change.

**Edward… **Bella thought.

**Ok fine, I won't look. It's not like I haven't seen you before.** Edward thought with a laugh.

She pulled the curtain back when she was done dressing.

"Yeah well I know how you are, and we have things to do today. Trust me, I'd love nothing more than to spend the entire day in bed with you, cuddling." Bella said, letting it stop there. She could see he was going to go on, but gave him a knowing look. So he stopped there.

He took her hand and walked them back to the car. He knew his way to where he wanted to go. So he made his way through town. And when they pulled up to her house where they spent their first night together in the meadow, Bella turned and looked at him with questioning eyes. She could tell he was keeping it from her, so she let it go, and just went with it. They got out and walked through the trees, hand in hand. They walked along the water, and ended up in the gazebo.

They turned and faced each other, and just stared into each other's eyes.

"Bella, you know I love you more than words can say. You've been the one thing that is beyond perfection for me. How well we know each other, inside and out. The way you never seem to think of me as merely a human. And it never registers with me that you're a vampire. You're my missing puzzle piece. And I plan to put that piece in place in less than a month." Edward said, and then knelt down. "Will you spend eternity with me, my love, and marry me?" He pulled the ring out of his pocket and held it up.

Bella looked at the ring and instantly had tears in her eyes. She looked into his eyes and saw a small tear running down his face. "The puzzle was already completed the day I met you. Of course I'll marry you. Eternity would be nothing without you by my side." She said and tackled him in a kiss. They started laughing in between kisses.

"I love you so much. I don't know how I've lived three hundred years without you." Bella said, then kissed him again.

"I love you too. Would you like your ring, my love?" Edward asked, holding it up to her.

"Absolutely." She said, and then he slid it on her ring finger. Then he kissed her finger with the ring on it, and then kissed her again. She looked down at her ring and felt so complete.

"How in the world did you find the perfect ring?" Bella asked.

"I just felt it. It's beautiful, and unique and sturdy. Almost like you. You are so much more." He said, then kissed her.

"We need to get back or they're gonna think we ran away together." Bella said with a laugh.

"You're right." Edward said.

Bella jumped up and pulled Edward up with her.

* * *

><p>Yes? No? Tell me what you guys think. That way I know if I need to go a different way or keep doing what I'm doing.<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

Alrighty then! Here's the deal, we're probably going to go to a twice a week update with this story. (Not LK if anyone is reading both. That one will stay once a week.)

If you haven't noticed by now, reading this story, Lola (LaurieWhitlock) is my beta, and I love her and want to tackle her in a hug sometimes. Lol

And I don't own a damn thing, SM does.

On with the reading!

* * *

><p>Chapter 13<p>

"So how about we keep this hush hush until we tell them all tonight? Unless you want to let them all in on it gradually…" Edward said, as they were walking back to the car.

"I don't care either way. My parents already get that there's the possibility that we'll get married. They just don't know how soon. Which I do need to talk to them about it. I know they'll be supportive of it, but I still want them to understand our WHOLE decision. But I can wait until after we tell everyone. But for now, I can put this" she pulled her hand up and looked at her ring, "on a chain around my neck until tonight." Bella said.

They reached Bella's Jaguar and got in and drove back towards Edward's house.

"So do you want me to join you and Rose at your house to cook? Or do you want some time with her? I know you want to talk to her again. And I don't mind. She trusts you so much." Edward said.

"You know, actually, I'd like you to be there.. I don't want her to feel uncomfortable. She could get a little jumpy and freak out." Bella said.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. But you know she's pretty comfortable around you. Did we get everything for dinner tonight?" Edward asked.

"Yes. Don't worry. I can see you're not sure how people are going to react. Everything will be fine. Remember, you and me." Bella said, grabbing his hand and kissing it.

They got back to Edward's house, and Rosalie was nowhere to be found. Edward walked around to find his mother and found her in the kitchen.

"Hey mom. Where's Rosie at?" Edward asked, giving her a hug.

"Charlotte took her to a clearing by the river that is apparently around Bella's house. She said it would be good for her to be outside and let everything just escape from her. I thought it was a good idea." Elizabeth said.

"She should be fine. That place is tranquil and serene and calming. And Charlotte knows what she's doing. Actually, I think I hear her car now." Bella said.

And a few minutes later, the Mustang came around the curve of the driveway, and Bella and Edward were standing on the front porch. Rosalie got out of the car smiling widely. That had to be a good sign after what had happened. Charlotte also got out and walked behind Rosalie to the house.

"Ok, I officially love that car." Rosalie said with a laugh, pointing back at the Mustang.

"Well we'll have to see what we can do to get you one. You may have to let the z4 go though." Edward said.

Rosalie stopped in her tracks and glared at her brother.

"Don't threaten my car, fucker." Rosalie said. Then Edward started laughing and Rosalie joined him.

"Come on inside you guys, it's getting cold. So how was your session, sweetie?" Elizabeth asked, walking up behind them.

They all turned and walked inside to the living room and sat down.

"It was really good. Better than I thought it would be. We went to the clearing and just sat there and talked about what happened. Charlotte told me how strong I was when it happened and how well I have already been taking it. She told me to sit there and let everything go from my body. The pain, the humiliation, the grief, everything that he inflicted on me. And to replace it with the strength that I know I have, to not let it keep me down. As I felt the blades of grass touching my feet, I realized the strength that she said I displayed to live past an event like this. The strength that I would have every moment for the rest of my life. But, in my mind, it was not strength. She said I should not shy away from men due to the lack of trust that man showed me. But that would be the hardest thing for me. And that I would not lose my sense of self or being. I would not feel dirty or like used goods. I would not feel any emotions that he tried to inflict on me. Not because of strength, but because I know who I am, and he cannot take that away from me. No matter what he did or what anyone ever does. He cannot take that away from me. EVER. So I'm going to make the best out of what was handed to me and make sure that the things that are most important in my life stay that way. Which is my family. I know I'll still have nightmares, but that's a normal thing. But I'm going to be myself. I'm not going to be that scared little girl that he wanted me to become. I refuse to be that. It's just going to be a process." Rosalie said with great conviction.

They all looked at her and saw that she was so much stronger than they ever thought she would be after what happened. Elizabeth had a tear rolling down her cheek from what her daughter said. Edward got up and hugged Rosalie to him.

"Rosalie, you have no idea how proud I am of you. You are beyond strong. God help anyone who ever tries to pick a fight with you." Edward said, with a small laugh.

Rosalie let out a slight laugh too. "Thanks Edward. It would be so much harder to get through any of this without you all. And I can't even imagine that. You all have been so great about this. And I can't thank any of you enough for being here for me. And Charlotte, I want to thank you so, so much for helping me pull out my inner fighter. You have helped me immensely. I know I've got a long way to go with this, but I feel so much lighter and freer about things. You're an amazing person." Rosalie got up and walked over to Charlotte and hugged her tightly.

"Rosalie, you have all of that in you. You will be able to get through this just as well, if not, even better than anyone else. You really are one of the strongest people I've known. And I have been around for a very long time. Too bad you're not one of us. You'd be exceptional." Charlotte told her.

Bella looked over to Edward when she said this with a wary look.

**Don't worry about it too much. She would never do it. Neither would any of the rest of us.** Bella thought to him.

**I'm not worried. I trust you more than anything.** Edward thought back to her.

Elizabeth felt nervous at Charlotte's statement about being a vampire, but knew Charlotte was giving her a compliment. Elizabeth didn't want to put too much stock into it since they've been so good to her daughter.

"Ok, so are we ready to get going Bella? I'm ready to get in some girl time." Rosalie said with a huge smile on her face.

"Sure. We've got everything we need. Edward's going to come too. But he'll come back to bring the rest of you. So let's head out. We'll see you guys later." Bella said, and then stood, with Edward, Rosalie and Charlotte following her. And Elizabeth walked them out.

"Thank you again Charlotte for helping Rosalie. I can already see how much you've already helped her. I know she'll be perfectly fine in no time. You've got a great knack for helping people." Elizabeth said as they reached the door.

"Well, she's important to Bella, so she's important to me. I'd help in any way I possibly can." Charlotte said.

Elizabeth couldn't help herself. She reached out and hugged her. Charlotte wrapped her arms around Elizabeth. "Don't worry; we'll make sure she's as good as she's ever been." Charlotte said to her.

"Thank you again." Elizabeth said, and pulled away.

Charlotte turned and walked out of the house to her car. Without anyone noticing, Charlotte said to Bella before she got in her car, "You know the others may not be there tonight. We'll play it by ear."

And when she turned back to slide in her car, Bella gave her a slight nod telling her she understood.

"Alright let's go." Bella said, walking down the steps.

Edward and Rosalie both looked at each other and screamed, "Shotgun! Bella!"

Bella just rolled her eyes at the two. There was no denying they were close as siblings.

"Hey, I'm not getting in the middle of this fight. Have at it between yourselves." Bella said with a laugh.

And after three rounds of 'rock, paper, scissors', Rosalie was sitting in the front, with Edward sitting in the back. He didn't mind that much, but it was still fun to play with Rosalie about this kind of stuff. And it helps her feel like nothing's happened.

When they got to Bella's house, Rosalie was in utter shock.

"Wow… this house is so amazing. Have you guys lived here for very long?" Rosalie asked, not really knowing that much about Bella and her family.

"Thank you. No, not really. We've only lived here for a few years. But we always find great houses to live in when we move. We do a lot of research before each move to find something that's not to close to humans, lots of open space, great structure. That kind of stuff. Sometimes we build a house before we move to the town. It just depends on what we're feeling at the time. But we've never regretted a single move." Bella explained as they walked up the front steps, and in the front door.

"Holy shit…" Rosalie said when she walked in the front door. She was in awe of the inside of the house. "This is beyond beautiful… I can see how much research you guys have done. This is like the perfect house."

Bella and Edward shared a knowing look with each other, remembering the perfect house they put an offer on earlier that day.

"Thank you Rosalie. This is my mother's passion: to find and remodel houses to get them to their fullest potential. Come on, this way." Bella said, ushering them to the kitchen.

They got to work on Thanksgiving dinner and had a great time cooking. Even after the small food fight that was started by Edward. They felt like they had been around each other for their whole lives. It was so easy to just let loose with each other and have fun.

When they were about halfway through the cooking, Bella knew she wanted to share something with Rosalie.

**Can you give me a few minutes with her? I want to talk to her about something and I don't know how she'll take it if you're in here with us. I know you'll probably hear it, but just let me try to tell her about this. **Bella thought to Edward.

He gave her a look that said he wasn't sure what it was suppose to be about, but he trusted her judgment. He just gave her a slight nod.

"I'm going to go outside for a couple minutes. I'll be right back." Edward said, then walked out to the back deck and walked down to the river.

"Rosalie, can I tell you about something that happened to me a while back? But I don't want you to be uncomfortable about it." Bella asked, looking her in the eye.

Rosalie wasn't sure what it could possibly be about, but she really wanted to know more about Bella and her life as a vampire.

"Sure. Don't worry about me. You can tell me whatever you want to." Rosalie said, still working on preparing the dressing for dinner.

Bella steeled herself to deal with this. She didn't want to scare Rosalie with this information, but she needed to at least know that Bella knew a little about where Rosalie was coming from.

"Ok, well… a long time ago, a guy… a vampire, tried to rape me." Bella paused to make sure Rosalie was ok with her going on. Rosalie looked at her with wide eyes.

"Really?" Rosalie asked.

"Yeah. Umm, I was out hunting one night, and this guy came up behind me and told me not to move. I panicked. I couldn't move. And he started touching me everywhere. I was so stunned and didn't know what to do. But when he started ripping my clothes away from my body… my mind kicked into high gear and I tried to fight back… kind of ummm… well, he… got as far as Royce did last night. But, he didn't survive. I don't want to scare you off about us, but it was self preservation, self defense. And, sure, I didn't use the best means I probably should have to defend myself, but when someone violates you, you don't really think about the outcome to your actions. I do regret killing him, but it's not something I can take back. Like I did to the guy that attacked you. But I ended up taking a consensus from everyone that was there last night and… went from there." Bella told her. She could also tell Edward was able to hear what she had said and was worried about what he was thinking.

**Don't worry. We'll talk about it later. I'm so sorry my love.** Edward thought to her from the river.

Bella closed her eyes, thankful he wasn't necessarily angry at her for what she did.

Rosalie still stood there, kind of gaping at Bella.

"… Well… wow… this happened while you were a vampire?" Rosalie asked, trying to get some understanding.

Bella took a deep breathe. "It was when I was a vampire… I'm really not proud of it, but I can't do anything about it anymore. I accepted that a long time I wanted you to know, that I understand a little of what you've been feeling since what happened to you. Like the shock of what it felt like to know someone just picks you out and wants to harm you, and the feeling of not knowing if some other guy that you pass on the street or in the hallway is going to try to do the same thing to you. Yes, I was at an advantage, but it's still there. The feeling of dread that the most seemingly normal guy could be so deviant. And I want you to know that I AM here for you if you want to talk to me about it, if you don't feel ok talking to Charlotte about anything. But believe me; you can trust Charlotte with anything." Bella said.

Rosalie dropped the stuff in her hands to the counter and went over to Bella and wrapped her in a hug.

"I'm sorry that ever happened to you. And thank you so much for being there for me. It means the world to me that you're such a caring and amazing person. You're always there for people around you. You're so selfless. I love you like a sister. And I have a feeling that one day you will be my sister." Rosalie said, holding tightly to Bella.

"Thank you. I love you like a sister too, Rosalie. I know how strong you are. And you will get through this, no worse for the wear. I will always be here. Don't ever hesitate." Bella said, then lightly kissed Rosalie on the cheek.

"Alright, let's get this stuff finished before Edward goes to get the rest of them." Bella said, then they got back to their work at hand.

**Edward, you can come back up here. Thank you for understanding that I needed to do that for her.** Bella thought to him.

Edward ran back up to the house and in the back door. He walked straight over to Bella and gave her a deep kiss. When he pulled away, he went back to helping with dinner.

"He listened, didn't he?" Rosalie asked with a sly look on her face.

Bella looked over at Edward.

"Sorry. It can't be helped sometimes. But I knew you two needed that time alone. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable." Edward said and leaned over and pecked Rosalie on the cheek.

"Thank you for that. But it wasn't necessary. I think I could have handled it. But it's fine. You guys are always so good to me." Rosalie said with a loving smile to both of them.

A little while later, Edward left to go back to his house to get Jasper and his mom to follow him back to Bella's house. Jasper and Elizabeth followed him in Jasper's Camaro.

Bella could hear them turn into the long driveway, and then turned to Rosalie. "They're here. They just turned in the driveway. Emmett and Alice should be here soon too. Are you going to be ok with everyone being here? I know how strong you've been lately, but I want you to know if you need time to yourself at any point, don't hesitate to take it. If you need to, you can go up to my room to be alone and get yourself together. Remember, don't hesitate." Bella said, looking her in the eye.

Rosalie took a deep breathe, "I know. And thank you. I may take you up on that offer if it does get too much for me. But I really hope it doesn't. I realize it won't turn around over night, but I can try. You've been so great to me. I just don't know how to thank you enough for being there for me." Rosalie said, giving her another small hug.

Just then, the front door opened and in came Alice and Emmett. They walked into the kitchen where Rosalie and Bella still were, getting the final touches done for dinner.

"Hey, you guys having fun in here? It smells really good." Emmett said, while they both sat down in the bar stools. Emmett gave Rosalie a look of relief to see how good she seems to be doing.

"Yeah. I even learned some new stuff from Bella. She's a really good cook. We should do this more often. Even the food fight." Rosalie said with a laugh.

Emmett and Alice raised an eyebrow at them.

"Yeah, Edward started it." Bella said, laughing.

"Oh, we saw them coming up the driveway when we came in. I think I hear the cars in the front now." Alice said.

Then Bella heard the three of them walking up the front steps. She heard the door open, and her face lit up with a smile.

"In here!" Bella yelled where they could hear her.

Edward, Jasper and Elizabeth walked into the kitchen to find them all sitting there talking.

"Elizabeth, these are my two best friends, Alice and Emmett. Guys, this is Elizabeth Masen." Bella said, pointing everyone out to make the introductions.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Masen." Alice and Emmett both said at the same time.

Bella, Alice and Emmett couldn't help but laugh at their togetherness.

"It happens a lot. Don't worry." Bella explained.

"Oh it's fine. You all must be incredibly close. It's nice to meet you two as well. And thank you for all your help with everything." Elizabeth said, shaking each of their hands.

"We're happy to help anytime." Alice said.

They eased into comfortable conversation. Then Carlisle and Esme showed up and made another easy introduction.

"Dad, I know you've already met him, but mom, this is Edward," Bella said pointing to Edward. "And this is his family. His mom, Elizabeth. His sister, Rosalie. And his brother, Jasper. Elizabeth, Edward, Rosalie, Jasper, these are my parents, Carlisle and Esme."

Elizabeth, Edward, Jasper and Rosalie were amazed at the similarities between Bella and her parents. It rendered them kind of speechless. They all talked some more until the food was done. And they sat down at the table, even Carlisle and Esme. They both refrained from eating, but everyone was aware of their diet.

"So are the others going to come?" Bella asked to Alice and Emmett.

"They will probably show up later. Mom and dad are trying to talk Kate and Garrett into accepting the whole thing. But you know they'll come around. They've always trusted your decisions. It'll just take time." Alice said.

They began eating dinner now that they knew it was just going to be them.

"Well, I know they're not usually here when we eat anyways, so don't think that it's anything against the four of you. If it's anything, it's me. They're worried I'm being reckless about it." Bella explained.

"Bella, you know they just don't want us to be discovered." Alice said.

"I don't want us to be discovered either, and I trust that we won't. They know I haven't been wrong about it before." Bella said with a knowing look to Alice and Emmett.

**Fine. I won't go there. But you know we are always behind you. And they WILL come around. They are my parents, I know how they operate.** Emmett thought to Bella.

**Thank you. You know I love them, but I just wish they trusted my judgment better.** Bella thought.

Edward heard that she was thinking to someone and figured it was one of the others. He let it go because he knew she would tell him if he needed to know.

They continued to eat dinner peacefully with Carlisle and Esme joining in with the chatter.

Once dinner was finished, Bella and Edward figured it was time to tell everyone about the news. They all made their way to the living room and Bella quickly took the ring from the chain around her neck, and put it on her ring finger. Then she grabbed Edward's hand to conceal the ring from everyone until they told them.

**We're gonna have to do this together. It could get dicey with my family at least.** Edward thought to Bella.

**I know. You deal with them the best way you know how. I don't think we'll have a big problem on my side. **Bella thought.

Once everyone was settled in the living room, Bella and Edward sat in a centralized part of the group so they could make sure to see everyone.

"Umm, we need to tell all of you something… But some of you might not be happy about it…" Edward said, trailing off and looking to Bella.

Bella took a deep breathe and went ahead with the news, knowing it was best to do this like you would rip a band-aid off. "Well, we've come to a few decisions in the past couple of days… and… we're… getting married after Christmas. And we've been looking to buy a house." Bella said warily. They both focused on Elizabeth's reaction. Which was very easy to see. She was in shock at the news. Eventually she broke out of the shock.

"WHAT? You can't be serious… You haven't known each other that long, how can you just up and get married?" Elizabeth started ranting.

Bella looked to Edward and nodded her head to the back patio door for him to take her outside to calm down.

"Mom, why don't we go outside and talk about this?" Edward said, standing and going over to his mother.

Elizabeth stood and started walking to the door.

Everyone inside was still a little stunned by the news.

"Bella, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean to do this so soon?" Carlisle asked getting up to walk over to her.

"Dad, we love each other. We know that we mean more to each other than anything in the world. We have both thought this through and it makes sense for us to do this. We don't want to put any stress on either of our families, but we're hoping that you trust us enough to make this decision and stand behind us. This is our choice, and we hope you all can accept it in time. We don't expect you to jump on board right away, but eventually hope you'll be ok with it. And the answer is yes, I know where you're going with this… and we've already talked about that too…" Bella said, looking knowingly into her father's eyes.

Carlisle wasn't sure if they should talk about it if front of Edward's sister and brother.

Outside, Elizabeth was leaning against the railing, looking into the dark night sky. It had been dark for a couple of hours now, so it was hard to see anything else but the trees in front of her.

"Mom, please don't be mad. This really is what I want and I can't even begin to tell you how much she means to me. You always told us when we found the right love that we'd know right away. And that's how it is with her. She's what I want in life. I'll never find anyone else like her." Edward tried to reason with her as he looked out over the river.

She bit her tongue against saying something harsh. She wasn't sure how to respond to this.

"Edward, I don't know what you want me to say to this. This is way more than just knowing that vampires exist and that you're interacting with them. This is a lifelong decision that you have to deal with. Are you sure you're not going to change your mind in a few years?" Elizabeth said.

"Mom… I won't be human anymore in a few years." Edward said, waiting for the fallout.

"NO! No! I won't let you do that! You can't expect me to just let you become one of them! This is not you! You're not someone who rushes into these things!" Elizabeth ranted on. The tears started slowly streaming down her cheek.

"Mom please don't cry. We've sort of thought that this is why our connection came about. That we're supposed to end up together. You've always told us about soul mates. She's mine. There's really no other way to define the whole thing." Edward said, leaning against the rail next to her, looking back at the house. "It hurts to be away from her. Like part of me is missing. And I need that other part in my life to live. Can you at least consider that this is how things were suppose to end up? And try to accept that she's going to be in my life either way? I want a happy life. And I know that's what I'll always have with her. She's the best thing that could have happened to me."

"Edward, I just need some time to come to grips with this. I mean, you dropped this vampire bomb on me and now you're telling me you're going to marry her. It's too much for me to think about all at once." Elizabeth said, trying to pull herself together.

"Mom, I do need to tell you about something else…" Edward started.

Inside, Bella had been having a very uneasy feeling. Like someone was watching her. She looked down at the floor, trying to focus on what it could be. She sensed around to see if it was just her or if something was going on. She closed her eyes to focus more. Suddenly her eyes flashed open in fear.

"SHIT!" Bella exclaimed.

**Edward, get your mother in here now!** Bella thought frantically, jumping up from her seat.

Edward turned back to the house and pulled his mother back towards it. "Mom, get inside, something's up." Edward said, trying to figure out what was going on himself.

Elizabeth looked at him shocked, not able to say anything.

Bella ran towards the door as Edward and Elizabeth came in.

"What is it?" Edward asked, trying to see what it was in her head.

Everyone else jumped up, wondering the same thing.

"Someone's out there…" Bella said, looking out the closed back door.

* * *

><p>Sorry for the cliffy. But on the bright side, I'll update again this weekend, so don't freak.<p>

Things are going to start moving after this. It's gonna be interesting!

Laters!


	14. Chapter 14

Hey again peeps! I told you I'd be back this weekend. I try my best to keep my word.

So, who's ready for some fun? Well it's fun for me. I get to write it. Hehe

Same ol song and dance, Lola(LaurieWhitlock) my insane Canuck is my beta. And also mia sorella.

And SM owns it, and I obviously, don't. damn it.

On with the story! It's another long one.

* * *

><p>Chapter 14<p>

**Em, Alice, go get your parents, now. We're probably going to need them.** Bella thought to them

Alice and Emmett bolted out the front door towards their homes, without asking.

Edward went to Bella to try and understand more. "What do you mean? What do you see out there?" Edward asked, still searching her mind.

"It's just my senses that felt it. I can't see them, but I know they're out there." Bella said, and then turned around to her family. "Mom, dad, stay in here with them. I'm going to see who it is. I have a feeling they're one of us."

"Buhbay, are you sure you want to go out there?" Esme asked worriedly. She and Carlisle both came to stand around Elizabeth, Jasper and Rosalie.

"Yes. I just want them protected. We don't know who they are or what they want." Bella said walking towards the door. But Edward grabbed her arm before she got far.

"I'm not letting you go out there alone. It's both of us or neither of us." Edward said.

They stared at each other for a moment before he let her arm go and they both walked towards the door.

"Edward, don't go out there. Please. I don't want you getting hurt, or worse." Elizabeth pleaded.

Edward turned to look back at her.

"We'll be fine. Please trust me." Edward said.

Then they both opened the back door and walked out.

They saw a young looking man walking from the trees that were not too far from the house. He looked to be about in his early twenties. He had shaggy dark blonde hair, red eyes, and very light colored skin. He wore a pair of dark jeans, a dark t-shirt, and a navy coat over it.

"Well, well. The lovely Bella Cullen. I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you in all these years." The man said still walking towards the house.

Edward and Bella were situated up on the high deck of the house that gave them distance from the man.

"Who are you?" Bella asked.

"Ah, straight to the point, as ever. I've been warned about you, dear girl. It seems you are a very special breed. But this… gentleman here seems to be something beyond human, himself. Although I can sense he's not one of us." The man went on with a very cocky attitude. It was not appreciated since he was unwelcome here.

"I'm not going to ask again." Bella said, starting to get annoyed.

"Oh yes, my dear. My name is James. And no, you don't know me. We've never crossed paths before. That, I would have definitely remembered… But I have been sent here for a reason." James said.

She was starting to sense that there was more than just this man in front of them. She couldn't tell exactly how many, but it seemed to be that there were enough to take on everyone there.

**Edward, there're more out there. They're all vampires, and this will probably end in a fight. We have to keep our eyes open.** Bella thought to him.

He instinctively grabbed hold of her waist and pulled her to him in protection.

"Ah, young love. Such a wonderful thing. It was especially lovely to see the two of you out here together last night." James said, still being cocky as ever.

Bella let out a growl from deep in her chest.

**Bell, don't. He's trying to get you to attack him.** Edward thought to her.

"I must say I had to restrain myself with his blood in the air. Next time, I don't think I'll have the same restraint to stop myself. From the blood or your beautiful body." James said, raising his eyebrow.

**THAT'S IT! **Bella thought in a feral rage. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She screamed and jumped over the railing towards James. Edward couldn't stop her; she was already out of his grasp.

As Bella hurtled towards James, he suddenly moved out of her way. Edward had to focus on their moves because they were so fast. Bella kept charging at him, after three times, he had her by the neck against a tree.

"You are a persistent one aren't you?" James asked with a snicker. "But why let myself have all the fun here?"

Then five other men came from around the side of the house and the woods.

"What is this? Are you bounty hunters or something?" Bella asked through clinched teeth. She looked up to Edward to look in his eyes so she didn't do something she shouldn't before help got there.

"Very good, beautiful. If you must know, yes we are. And your little boy-toy's 'gift' won't affect us. So save your strength, lover boy." James said the last part over his shoulder to Edward.

Bella's eyes went wide towards Edward.

**What do we do? I can't fight him, and I'm not leaving you.** Edward thought to Bella.

Bella thought about it for a split second. She could see that Alice, Emmett and their parents would be there soon so they would have to stall them at least until then.

**At least try it once. And if it doesn't work, we have to hold them off until the others get here. It's more than just these six, I can sense it. Just don't do anything to draw attention to you.** Bella thought to him.

"To think it was going to be hard to find all of you, was ridiculous. You really stick out in the vampire community." James said, eyeing Bella.

Edward focused his attention on James so he wouldn't accidentally hit Bella, since they were standing so close together. He figured freezing him would be a good start that wouldn't draw attention to himself, like Bella said. His best bet was to not use his hands to focus his powers, like they do so many times. But that still risked him hitting Bella. But he went for it anyways. He tried to freeze James, but nothing was happening. And he tried once more. Still there was nothing.

**Bell, I've got nothing here. I can't freeze him.** Edward thought to her.

**Try blowing him up.** Bella thought.

**No! I'm not going to risk hitting you instead, even if it does work. I'll try moving him, but I don't even know if that'll work.** Edward thought back.

"You know, finally seeing the rare breed of a hybrid, I must say," James leaned in a sniffed Bella's neck for a little too long, "You do have a lovely human scent to you even after all these years."

**OH, HELL NO! **Bella thought, her eyes still on Edward, never having moved them from his the whole time.

Edward didn't care after what he saw in her head. That what was coming next would not be good if he didn't do anything.

**Hold onto something just in case you get caught in it.** Edward thought to her.

She just slightly nodded her head at him. She grabbed hold of the tree with her hands to steady herself.

Edward focused again and tried to move James. This time he went flying across the yard, and landed next to a tree trunk. Then Edward jumped over the railing, to the ground to join Bella as she ran back towards him.

**You ok?** Edward thought to her.

**I'm fine. Alice and Em are almost here with their parents. **Bella thought.

James stood back up and looked to Edward and Bella. He still had a cocky look on his face.

"Very unwise move. Not that that little trick will help you. There are more of us here then there are of you, so you might as well just give up now. We don't go down without a fight." James said with a smirk.

"Funny, neither do we. And we don't take kindly to threats towards the people we love." Bella said with ice seething through her words.

"Love? Vampires don't know anything about love. We love one thing: blood. You ought to know that by now. That's why it's so odd to see a vampire family. Hmm… something must have gone wrong with their transformations to make them so… affectionate towards anyone. But worse things have become of vampires in the past." James said as a few more men joined around him. There were now eight men in the back yard across from Bella and Edward.

**We need to do something. We can't fight them just between the two of us.** Edward thought to Bella.

Bella looked to see how far away Alice and Emmett were with their family. They were just down the street, turning to cut through the woods.

**They're almost here. Mom and dad aren't going to just sit on the sidelines either. I just hope your family stays away from the danger. I don't want them to get hurt.** Bella thought to him.

"You know, you're really starting to get on my last nerve. So either you tell us why you came, or you get your sorry ass out of here." Bella said, starting to get pissed.

"Aren't we impatient? I think that human side of you has made you weaker. But no matter. We're still here to find out what this boy here is. And now I'm more intrigued since he has somehow used his power on me…" James said, eyeing Edward.

"Yeah, well you're not getting near him." Bella snarled, making sure Edward was standing behind her.

"I don't think you have much of a choice, little girl. I always get my mark, no matter what. So you might as well give up now." James said, walking towards them.

**Look to see if my parents are watching and see if you can get some sort of idea what's going on inside. I need to keep an eye on him.** Bella thought.

**Ok.** Edward thought back. He looked up to the door to see Carlisle standing there watching what was going on. Edward motioned with his eyes that they would probably need help from them. Carlisle nodded his head and walked back from the window, presumably to talk to everyone else quickly.

**Your dad's going to help when we need him. I'm not sure about everyone else, but we've at least got him.** Edward thought.

Bella shifted slightly, letting him know she understood.

"Just so you know, you're only going to get him if I'm dead. So you're going to have a hell of a fight on your hands first. And I don't fight nicely, either." Bella snarled.

James crouched down with a huge smirk. "Good, I like a challenge." James said.

**Edward, there's more around the other sides of the house. I think I'm sensing about twenty of them, or so. Ali and Em and the others are in the trees. When this starts, I want you to stay around one of us. Don't let them get hold of you.** Bella thought.

Edward grabbed hold of her waist and thought to her. **I'm not leaving you alone. I'm going to be as close to you as I can be. **

She grabbed his hands at her waist. **Promise me.** She thought to him.

**I promise.** Edward thought.

**Wait, I smell humans… and steel… Crap, they brought humans and guns… Edward, watch out for bullets. Alice, Em make sure one of us is around Edward and his family.** Bella thought to the three of them.

**All over it.** Alice thought to her.

**Yep. **Emmett thought.

**Hopefully that's not a problem.** Edward thought.

They both squeezed each other's hands, and then let them fall to their sides. Then Bella started making her way around to the area of the trees where she felt Alice, Emmett and their parents. Edward slightly followed, but walked a little slower so it didn't look like they were moving to fight together.

Edward slightly looked up to the roof of the house, to see that Carlisle, Esme, Peter and Charlotte were slowly walking to the edge as to not be seen by the others. It seemed that they were putting the bounty hunters in the middle of them to jump them by surprise. This meant Alice, Emmett, Kate and Garrett were behind them and the bounty hunters were being herded.

**Do you guys always get this organized? **Edward thought to Bella.

**Just part of how we are. Our instincts kick in like this because we are so attuned to each other. **Bella thought.

She was looking into Alice and Emmett's heads then saw what they had brought with them. This put a huge smirk on her face.

**Ooo, that'll make it so much easier. Good thinking. **Bella thought to Alice and Emmett.

**We like to be prepared. **Alice thought to her.

Bella then went into her own crouching position.

**What is it?** Edward thought to Bella.

**Lighters. We're going to need your help to get it where we need it.** Bella thought back.

He saw what she wanted to do in her head. Then he let a sly smile creep across his face.

**Oh I like how you three think.** Edward thought to her.

**Just keep an 'eye' on me. This is going to be chaotic.** Bella thought.

**Got it.** Edward thought.

Edward held back to see who was going to make a move first. Of course, it ended up being James, and he pounced towards Bella.

"GO!" Bella screamed, as she also ran for James**.**

Carlisle, Esme, Peter and Charlotte all jumped from the roof of the house onto the backs of the bounty hunters that were closest to the house and ripped their heads from their bodies with no problem. Then their limbs.

Bella ran straight into James, and sent him flying backwards into the trunk of a tree.

Alice, Emmett jumped up into the closest trees to the fight so they could get to where they would be needed quickly. Kate and Garrett ran through the trees straight for the bounty hunters that were coming towards Edward and Bella. Kate grabbed one of them and slammed him into the ground and ripped his limbs from his body with as much force as she could. The other one got his hands around Garrett and threw him to the ground. But Garrett bounced back up and started towards him again and started fighting, hand to hand.

**Ali, Em, lighters. Edward needs one. **Bella thought to the them.

**Stay here. I'll go down there. You go around to the other side of the trees so you can get to the doors of the house.** Emmett thought to Alice.

Alice was hesitant to leave the fight.

**Ali, please watch the others. I need someone in there I can communicate with.** Bella thought to her.

**Got it.** Alice thought.

Emmett jumped down from the trees to run to Edward. Alice jumped from tree to tree to get to the back deck. Once she got there, she jumped over the railing and ran straight for the door.

Emmett passed off two lighters to Edward, two for Bella, and kept one for himself.

Once Alice was inside, Elizabeth, Jasper and Rosalie were all startled as she rushed through the door.

"What's going on out there? I can't stand not knowing." Elizabeth asked, almost frantic.

"It just started. There're a lot of them out there, but I think we'll be able to handle them all. I need you all to stay put in here." Alice said.

Rosalie had been pacing the whole time she was waiting inside, and she had finally had enough. She needed to help somehow.

"No! I can't stay in here and do nothing. I have to help them. I owe them that much." Rosalie said as she ran towards the door.

"Rosalie no!" Alice shouted as she ran and stopped Rosalie, "I can't let you put yourselves in danger. Let us take care of this."

"No. I can't do that. I have to do something. They're my family too." Rosalie said, as she shoved past Alice. Alice let her because she knew how close Rosalie felt with everyone.

"Rosalie, don't!" Elizabeth shouted, but Rosalie was already out the door.

**Bella, she's on her way out!** Alice thought, trying to warn her.

"I'm going with her. I'll keep her safe." Jasper said, as he ran for the door too.

"Damn it." Elizabeth muttered to herself.

"Try to stay safe. Yell for me if you need me. I'll stay close. Just don't panic." Alice said. Then she turned to go back out the door.

"Alice!" Elizabeth yelled before she could get out the door. "Please watch out for them?" She begged, almost with tears spilling over her eyes.

"I will. Don't worry." Alice said. Then ran out the door.

When Rosalie and Jasper made it to where they could see the fight, they stopped in their tracks. There were vampires everywhere, fighting. And they were moving so fast that it was hard to keep up.

Bella threw one vampire across the yard when she looked up to see the three of them on the deck. Then she had a thought.

**This could work to our advantage. Ali, Em, Edward, do you see what I see?** Bella thought to the three of them.

They each looked around to see that they were still basically herding the bounty hunters in the middle. With Rosalie and Jasper above on one side of the yard, and Edward on the other, it could easily turn into a shooting gallery.

**I see it, baby.** Edward thought to her.

**This is way too easy.** Emmett thought.

**Oh hells yeah.** Alice thought to the others.

Alice turned to Jasper and Rosalie to try to explain what was going on.

"Alright, we're going to need you two to use your powers. The only thing that works is telepathy. So we're going to use lighters. It's one of the only ways we can die. Just don't hit Em's parents. They're right over there." Alice said, pointing towards the woman with long, flowing, dark brown hair and golden eyes. And the man with dark brown, spiky, tousled hair and golden eyes, as well. They were both fighting two over-sized bounty hunters that seemed to be mercilessly charging them over and over.

"Do you know what you need to do?" Alice asked the two of them.

"Yeah. I'm ready." Jasper said, a little too ready to get in on the action.

"Wait… We're supposed to throw fire?" Rosalie asked, trying to clarify because she was a little shocked from what was going on.

"Yes. Just make sure enough of it gets to them to set them ablaze. Got it?" Alice said.

Rosalie nodded. "I think I can do this." She said. She was so nervous about hitting someone she shouldn't.

"The humans down there have guns too. So watch for bullets. They won't hurt us, but they will hurt you. But with your powers, you should be able to stop them before it gets to you." Alice said.

"Oh, so no pressure, right?" Rosalie said with sarcasm.

There were about thirteen vampire bounty hunters left, and a few humans holding back.

**Let's light these fuckers up.** Alice thought to Bella and Emmett.

Emmett joined Alice, Jasper and Rosalie on the deck. Alice was going to block Jasper from getting attacked, and Emmett was going to block Rosalie.

"Alright, charcoal time." Emmett said, as she held up the lighter and lit it for Rosalie. Alice did the same for Jasper. And on the other side of the yard, Bella was by Edward's side as he lit the lighter he had in his hand. Edward started by focusing his energy on where he wanted the flame to go. Then he forced the flame into his hand. He stared at it for a moment, then hurled it towards one of the vampires that was making his way towards him. The vampire burst into flames, and quickly turned to ash. Everyone had turned to see what had happened. The look of shock written on the faces of the bounty hunters was assuring that Bella and the others were on the right track to getting rid of them. Edward looked up to the deck, where Rosalie and Jasper were and nodded to them. Rosalie and Jasper both did the same thing Edward did, focusing on the flame then bringing it into their hand. They proceeded to throw the flame at two bounty hunters that were getting too close to Esme and Charlotte. They kept going like this until the humans were the only ones left, along with James. The three humans that were left held up their guns in defeat. James just stood there with a questioning look on his face.

"How did you do that? You're not supposed to have any available abilities to use against us." James said, with little understanding as to why he was down seventeen vampires and his three humans have given up.

"You tell us. How exactly did you block their powers?" Bella asked. She wanted answers and didn't feel like playing James's games anymore.

"Well that all depends…" James said, not fazed.

"Ok, well you've really only got two options, you can talk or you can go up in flames. But it really would be best if you talked. Because I'm not really known for my patience. How did you know about his powers and how to block them?" Bella asked through gritted teeth.

"I think that's the one thing I have no desire to share. But I am willing to share other things with you, beautiful girl." James said with a sly smirk on his face.

That was the last straw for Bella. She wasn't going to take his innuendos anymore.

**I've had enough of his shit. Edward, do it…** Bella thought to him, motioning towards James. Edward knew what she meant.

He flicked the lighter, then threw the flame towards James, turning him to ash.  
>Then they turned to the humans that were standing there.<p>

"Do any of you want to answer the questions? Because we would gladly let you join the rest of your friends." Bella said, trying to convey that they wouldn't have a second thought about killing them. But Bella really didn't want to have to because they had surrendered.

Two of the human bounty hunters were impassive about what she had said and didn't seem to care one way or the other. But the other one had a look of fear in his eyes. They knew he didn't want to die. Bella had to make sure everyone else was on the same page.

**Ok, the one up front seems to be more willing to break. We're going to have to keep an eye on the other two also.** Bella thought to Edward, Alice and Emmett.

They each nodded to her and then Bella turned around to her father.

"Dad, do you want to head this up?" Bella asked, motioning towards the humans.

Everyone had finally made it down to the yard where Bella and Edward were standing, including Elizabeth.

"Sure." Carlisle said as he walked forward. "Do you want to tell us who sent you?"

The two in the back didn't even look like they were interested in the conversation.

"We don't know who it was. I swear. We never heard who it was nor did we ever see them. We were just brought on, after the fact, for numbers." The willing one said.

"What's your name, son?" Carlisle asked.

"Jeremy." He said.

"Don't tell these bloodsuckers anything, you idiot." One of the others scolded.

"We're all going to die anyways. At least I'll have some peace of mind having cooperated before I die anyways." Jeremy said.

Carlisle turned his head to Garrett and Peter, and nodded his head in the direction of the humans. They both were standing behind the two humans in a flash, taking their guns, and holding an arm and their neck in restraint.

"Do you know how they were able to resist the powers of the witches here?" Carlisle asked.

"All we knew was that we were supposed to keep these stones on us at all times while we were here on this mission." Jeremy said, pulling out a stone that was translucently blue-black, with lots of different, bright colors going through it, from his pocket. It looked like a black hole with colors sitting in it. It was strangely beautiful.

Edward walked forward as Carlisle took the stone from Jeremy's hand. Edward was automatically shocked.

He reached his hand out, asking to hold it. Carlisle handed it over to him. Edward already knew what it was.

"It's black opal. It's a rare stone. But it has been known to have effects on some witches powers. Mainly the one of ours that lets us freeze and blow things up. Somehow it stops how we manipulate cells to speed up or slow down. There aren't a huge stockpile of these around the world, but they aren't impossible to get either. But it doesn't stop our telepathy though. So that's why we were able to use that against them. There is a spell that protects against telepathy, but apparently, whoever sent these guys didn't know about that." Edward explained.

"Then it's not someone we know. Anyone who knows about us would have known about the telepathy and could have found the spell like they did the black opal. Whoever it was, was working with limited information." Elizabeth said from behind Edward.

Carlisle looked back to Jeremy. "Do you have an idea if, whoever sent you was a witch, vampire, human or anything else?" He asked.

"I think it may have been a vampire. We've been around these vampires for a while now and we haven't really seen anyone or anything else around." Jeremy said.

"Do you know anything else that might help us?" Carlisle asked, looking to all three of them.

"I don't. That's all I really know." Jeremy said.

The other two remained silent.

Carlisle noticed marks just under the collar of one of the others shirts and realized something.

"You served as a source of blood to vampires all this while, haven't you?" Carlisle asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

The other two shared a look with each other, but didn't say anything.

Jeremy spoke up, "Yes. We have been for about a month now."

"Do you remember any names from anyone else, other than any of the ones you were with here tonight?" Carlisle asked.

"No. We didn't even know all of their names. We only knew James, Christopher and a few others. James and Christopher were the ones who made sure we all got here and found you." Jeremy explained.

"Where were you before?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm not sure. We always heard European accents, but I'm not sure exactly what." Jeremy said.

"Ok, I think that's all we're going to get out of these three. Peter, Garrett get them out of here. We'll start the clean up around here and get on this as soon as we're done." Carlisle said. Peter and Garrett turned and took the three men out of the yard. Then Carlisle turned around to Bella and Edward.

"Why don't you take Edward's family inside? We'll take care of things out here and we'll let you know what we can come up with. You all should get some rest. We have plenty of rooms, so make yourselves at home please. I'd feel better knowing you're all close by for the night in case they weren't the only ones." Carlisle said to them.

Bella nodded. "Ok, I'll get them situated. Thanks dad." Bella said, then gave him a hug.

"You know we're not going to let anything happen to them or us." Carlisle said. Then let Bella go.

Bella turned and led them all inside and up to the spare rooms.

"I want to stay with Rose. I don't want her to be alone." Jasper said.

"That's fine. I wouldn't want her to be alone either. You two can take this room next to me." Bella said, pointing to the door beside hers, "And Elizabeth, you can take the one right across the hall. We never use these rooms; they're all just there for show. But we always have them set up for anything. Like my dad said, make yourselves at home here. If you need anything, just ask. You know I'll be up all night." Bella said.

"So you don't sleep at all?" Elizabeth asked.

"No. we don't. Well I did before I became a full vampire, but not since then. And even then, it wasn't much sleep at all. I used to be kind of an insomniac." Bella explained with a little laugh.

"Wow. Ok. I keep learning something new as the day goes." Elizabeth added with a laugh as well. "Ok, well I'm going to get some rest. I'll see you all in the morning. Thank you again Bella."

"My pleasure Elizabeth. You are all always welcome here." Bella said. Elizabeth smiled and turned to go to her room for the night.

"Bella, do you have any clothes I could possibly borrow? I really want to take a shower." Rosalie asked.

"Of course. Come on, let's see what we can find for you to sleep in." Bella said, then took Rosalie into her room to find some clothes.

"What do we do now? I mean, do you think there's more to this and more people coming after us?" Rosalie asked as they started going through Bella's closet.

"I'm not sure what we are going to do. But for now, I'll feel much better with you guys close by. I guess we're just going to have to play it by ear for now. Try not to worry too much right now. We'll figure this all out later and go from there. Go get showered and get some sleep. We don't know what's going to happen so I want you guys to get all the rest you can." Bella said, and then turned to look her in the eye after seeing worry there, "Don't worry. You're safe here. Most of the rest are going to stay here tonight and keep an eye out. So go get some sleep."

Rosalie nodded her head. "I'll try to. I'm just a little wired now with all that just happened out there. We were supposed to be celebrating your engagement now and it got ruined. I want to throw you two a party so we can celebrate the right way. It'll just be family." Rosalie said excitedly. Rosalie loved to celebrate life's great moments.

Bella smiled and hugged her. "That sounds great Rosalie. You're such a great friend. I'd love for you to throw us a party."

"Great! Ok, I'm getting out of here. I'll see you in the morning." Rosalie said, then turned and walked out to go take her shower.

Jasper and Edward were in Jasper and Rosalie's room for the night. Jasper turned and asked him "So you really don't think it's someone we know?"

"I'm not really sure. I doubt it. You know if someone we knew wanted to get rid of us, they would have made sure that all of our defenses were shot. This had to be someone that has only limited knowledge of us." Edward said, walking around the room.

"Could it have been that it's not totally to get to us? What if they're after Bella and her family?" Jasper asked, sitting on the foot of the bed.

Edward stopped in his tracks. "Wait, you think they were after them? Well… that could be… I mean most all of them were vampires, so they could have been after Bella's family too. But why and how did they know about us?" Edward asked, still confused.

"I don't know man. This may be something that only they can figure out. Maybe her dad will have more answers in the morning." Jasper said.

Then Rosalie walked in, showered and ready for bed.

"You're going to wear a hole in that floor if you don't stop pacing." Rosalie said with a laugh.

"Very funny Rosie. You guys get some rest. I'm gonna stay in Bella's room if you guys need me. But I don't know if I'll sleep. I'm too keyed up. I'll talk to you later. Night." Edward said, and turned to walk out the door.

"Night." Jasper and Rosalie both said before he was gone.

When Edward walked into Bella's room, she was sitting on her window seat, looking up at the moon.

"I think Jasper was right." Bella said without turning to look at him.

He walked up behind her and sat beside her on the seat, and kissed her on the cheek.

"We don't know anything for sure. They could have been after either of us-" Edward said but got cut off by her.

"You know they had to be after us since they were mostly vampires. Vampires that seemed to have no clue who or what you are. They knew we were involved with beings that weren't entirely human. It was someone that felt like they were going to be threatened by us for getting involved with other beings…" Bella said then went back to thinking. She was so scared that Edward could have been killed because of her tonight if they were really after her and her family.

"Stop right there… You are not going to think that way. It would have been in no way your fault if something had happened to me. Even IF they were after you and your family. I am capable of defending myself so if anything had happened, it would have just happened. Don't go off on the self-loathing tangent, because I'm not going to let you. Remember, it's you and me. We're going to deal with whatever together." Edward said, looking her in the eye.

"You're right. I'm sorry. It just scares me to think of losing you. And I very well could have tonight." Bella said. Then she reached out and hugged him. "Come on, you need some sleep." She said, getting up, grabbing his hand and walking over to her bed. He followed behind her and joined her. They lay down over the blankets and Bella patted her lap and he laid his head there. He felt so comfortable with the close contact with her. He slept so soundly the night before on her lap and he needed to just hold onto her right now.

"You know, this is the first time I've actually seen your room…" He said looking around the room to take it in. "I can see your touch everywhere in here. It really does scream you."

"Thanks. I can't wait to get into our own place though. We'll be able to make it ours." Bella said, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

"That sounds great to me." Edward said still looking around.

"Try to sleep, babe. I don't want you to be dead on your feet tomorrow if we need to do something about whoever came after us." Bella said, rubbing his back.

"I can't. It's still there in my mind and I can't get it out." He said.

"Here, let me see if I can help." She said. She looked over to see where her remote for her iPod dock was, but she didn't see it. "Well hell, I don't… oh, can you toss it over here." She said when she saw it over by the dock.

"Sure." He said, then waved his hand towards it and it flew across the room and into Bella's hand.

"Thanks." She said, then started the music. The room was automatically filled with the sounds of an instrumental version of 'Memory'. The sound of a solo piano player was so calming and relaxing.

"This is a beautiful song. I really like this version of it." Edward said as he snuggled deeper into Bella's side.

"Me too. Close your eyes." She said.

He looked at her reluctantly.

"Just do it." She said.

He closed his eyes and waited. He was then seeing the first night they spent together in the park. The love that they shared that night was now flowing through his mind instead of the images from earlier in the night.

"Thank you." He whispered, then kissed her stomach.

They laid there for almost a half an hour, when there was a light tapping on the door.

Edward wasn't quite asleep yet so they both looked over to the door when Bella told whoever it was to come in.

Carlisle and Esme came in and closed the door. They walked over to the bed and stood at the edge.

"We think we figured it out." Esme said in a nervous voice.

Bella knew there were only a few people that would make her that nervous. She knew her suspicions had to be at least close to the mark now.

"Who?" Bella asked with an equally nervous tone.

"Aro…" Carlisle said finally.

**I FUCKING KNEW IT!** Bella thought.

* * *

><p>So? Did anyone like the fight? Leave me a review, and I'll update that much sooner.<p>

Laters!


	15. Chapter 15

Hayo! I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate how many people have been following this story. I really didn't think it was going to catch with most people, but I was happily wrong. Thank you so much for reading my little story that has gone through so much already.

And anyone that reviewed and I didn't respond (I try to respond to everyone when I can) thank you for the reviews! They mean a lot to me and help me know where I'm going.

As usual, mia sorella Lola(LaurieWhitlock) is my bestest beta.

And I don't own Twilight *sad facey*

Keep reading, I love it when you do!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

"So this was all his doing? I knew he would try something one day… Wait… he saw it didn't he?" Bella asked, with a little bit of worry in her voice.

"I think so. Do you two want to come downstairs? The others are still talking about it but we wanted to let you know." Carlisle said.

Bella turned her eyes down to Edward in her lap and he nodded.

"Ok, come on." Esme said, turning to the door.

Bella and Edward jumped off of the bed and he grabbed her hand and held it all the way down to the living room.

They could hear the others still talking when they walked in. But they never stopped. As the four of them came in, they were still welcomed into the conversation.

"I think it could all together be him. It just seems too close to something he would do to us. He's always given off that feeling of thinking we were not the normal ones and that our way of living was completely insane. He wouldn't think twice about getting us out of the picture. But how did he know about Edward and his family? That's what I want to know." Bella said.

"Bella, sweetie you know it was probably when I started doing research for what was going on with the two of you that he saw it, which I will get to later. He has his moments of looking into our lives to find us. Anyone else, we wouldn't have had a problem with them finding out. But with it being Aro, we all know he's been begging for a reason to get rid of us." Carlisle said.

**Babe, who is that? And how does he see you all?** Edward thought to Bella.

She turned and looked at him.

**He is my father's creator. He's a very old vampire, who is also very spiteful of us and how we live. He would always show up to places we were, around the world and try to coax us into his ways. Which are very harsh and greedy. He is relentless with feeding on humans. He thrives on finding as many as he can and draining them, whereas most of the rest of us don't completely drain them. They at least give the people they feed from a chance to live afterwards. Our family only takes the bare minimum if we have to. Aro is usually a very unruly when it comes to feeding. He doesn't give a damn about whether he's affecting a community by killing so many people, but he does have enough sense of mind to get out before he's noticed. He moves around a lot. Much more than many of us that isn't nomadic. But the reason he can see is because there is a bond between a vampire and its creator. It's called a 'fixation'. It's essentially vampire tracking vision. It comes with years and years of being one of us. If the fixation is strong enough, the creator can see certain aspects of their vampire's life. Such as where they are or what they see in a split second. Things like that are very common amongst us. But it's usually limited to just that. It's not like they can see straight into our heads or anything, but they can get enough information to get a read on you and what you're doing. That way they know information about you and can find you wherever you are. They, in a sense, have an upper hand on you if there's such a connection. Not all of us have them, or either they're not that strong yet. But in this case, with Aro being such an old vampire, the fixation is enough for him to find out stuff about us. My dad is there with me and my mom. He can see some things about us, but it's just a split second view and sometimes it's not really clear enough to understand. Unless you know the vampire well enough. So what they think happened was that Aro saw something that my dad was looking into about you when he was trying to figure out what the connection between us was. It was probably some sort of flash of information across his mind and it could have been something like this… **Bella thought, then showed him a picture of Carlisle, Esme and Bella, with words along the lines of, 'power', 'freezing', and 'blown up'.

**It could have been as simple as that. And that was really just a flash for you too, right?** Bella thought.

"Yeah, but how does he come to the conclusion that it was others with supernatural powers? That's what I don't get. It could have been something so much simpler that witches or anything else that would be out there. Why does he automatically think there's a threat?" Edward asked for everyone to hear. He wanted that out there for discussion.

"Edward, I don't know what all Bella told you about him, but he has a really deep grudge for us. He doesn't like the fact that we've stuck together as such a large group. If there's ever a coven of vampires, it's usually just a few people in it. At most a coven will be about four in total. We have nine. Not that there are any real families of vampires out there other than us. We've never come across any. They may be out there but they are few and far between.

"The thought of us being more influential than he or the vampires he's close to, is unsettling to him. He likes the 'power' he thinks he has over many vampires. He thinks he's more entitled than anyone younger than he is. He doesn't have any gifts, but he knows vampires that do. And he keeps them close too. These are very rare too. To have a gift as one of us is a big deal. We don't know why they come to some of us and not to others, but the ones that do have them are quite revered. The two vampires he keeps the closest are Marcus and Caius. They're the oldest vampires he knows and trusts. And he has what we like to call a set of guards. Some are gifted, that he's collected over the years, some are just strong.

"Aro knows about Bella, Alice and Emmett, but seeing as how their gift is restricted to themselves, and now you, he doesn't see it as quite as much of a threat. But, now that I think of it, what if he's seen that Bella's gift has expanded to you? Then he may have come for her. We don't know what all he's seen. There could be several reasons why he sent them." Carlisle said.

The fact that Aro might have sent people for Bella, sent Edward into utter fury. Bella saw this and knew he might lose his temper. She grabbed his face with her hand and turned him to face her so he could look in her eyes.

"Hey… don't. I'm right here. Don't let the 'could haves' get to you." Bella said.

Edward closed his eyes to try to get the fury to settle down.

"Ok, I'm fine. He's never going to touch you though. I'll have to be a pile of ashes first before he does." Edward said, looking back in her eyes.

The rest of the vampires in the room all snapped their heads towards the two of them.

"Did I hear that right?" Kate asked with an edge to her tone.

Bella and Edward looked around at the rest of them.

"Uh, yeah. I'm going to change him after we get married. He wants it and I'm not ever going to want anything other than him. So it only makes sense for us to do this. I didn't want to at first, but it's logical for us to do it this way." Bella explained.

"Are you serious? How can you just jump into doing something like this without thinking of the consequences of turning someone that isn't purely human into a vampire? You don't know what will happen to him. And you've only known each other for, what, a week…" Kate went on.

"We've already thought about that. And I'm willing to chance it. This was my suggestion in the first place to do this and I know there are no guarantees that things will turn out ok, but I want to at least try. She means too much to me to not do whatever I can to stay with her forever." Edward explained.

"Buhbay, this is an even bigger step than getting married. Do you even know how you're going to do this? You've never changed someone before." Esme said.

"Look, I didn't want to tell you all this but, I've already had practice controlling myself and the venom. I'm fairly certain that I'll be able to go through with the process, if that's what you're all worried about." Bella said, not looking at anyone. Then looked up to Edward.

"Bella, you didn't?" Carlisle asked.

"Yeah, I did. So you can go ahead and put me through the ringer. But it's just something that we do. I didn't take too much from him, and he always sleeps it off. I DO have some control. I wouldn't hurt him." Bella told them, not caring what kind of hell they wanted to put her through. She wasn't going to apologize for something they both wanted to do.

"Look that was something I wanted her to do, too. I asked her; well actually, I had to talk her into it." Edward said.

"You know that is something we don't do unless we are desperate for blood. How could you be this careless? It's not like you to do something like this, Bella." Kate said.

"Ok, look, we're not asking for your permission to do this, but I will ask that you do not drag us over the coals and judge us for it. I know it's dangerous to try to do something like this, but with each of us in the other's head, I can tell if he's had too much taken from him. I can stop before he's affected in any way. And my venom is under control when I do it. So I have never been in trouble of losing any control of myself." Bella said.

"How many times?" Garrett asked.

"Just the one time. Last night." Bella said.

"I really don't think this is going to end well. You can't continue to do this and not think you're going to stay in complete control of it, or not get addicted to it." Kate said.

"It's not going to be that much longer anyways. We're getting married after Christmas, and I'm going to change him right after. So just lay off. I know if I do end up doing it again, it will be fine. We work together to do things and this isn't any different. He is fully capable of stopping me if he needs to. So I think we have it under control. Do you think I would hurt him in any way if I loved him?" Bella said.

"Bella, we're not accusing you of not loving him. And they're just trying to make sure you know what you're doing. If something were to go wrong, you can't go back." Carlisle said.

"Dad, I know that. Do you think I didn't think about all of this before I did it? I was terrified I would kill him last night. Or start the changing process. I worried the whole time before I stopped myself." Bella said with a little bit of sadness in her voice. She started feeling tears in her eyes.

Edward turned to look at her, and wiped her eyes.

"Bell, don't cry baby. It's ok. We were fine when we did it. Nothing happened." Edward said.

"I know. Can we get back to Aro? I think we need to figure out where he is and get rid of him once and for all. I'm not going to sit here and let him send more vampires after us. He's pissed me off for the last damn time. He comes after my family, and my fiancé and his family, that's the last straw for me. I'm not going to live with that fear anymore. I've had it." Bella said with finality.

"I understand where you're coming from, dear. I do think we need to do something about this. But I don't know how we're going to and not raise suspicion from him. It's not like we can wait and see if anyone else comes." Carlisle said. Then he stood up and walked around to think.

"I think we should go as soon as we can. The longer we wait, the more suspicious he'll get. I think the best way to go is an ambush." Bella said.

Carlisle stopped and looked at her.

"Do you think it's wise to try and go up against him on his own turf? We don't even know where he is." Carlisle said.

"That's why we need to do some research. He is a creature of habit. I know there has to be a pattern to where he goes and lives for any amount of time. You know that as well as I do." Bella said.

"Wait a sec. What exactly do you have in mind, Bella?" Garrett asked.

Bella looked around to make sure they were all paying attention.

"Ok, I know this sounds crazy, but we need to do this without dad going. We all know that Aro is going to be on the lookout for him. And we don't need him being wise to what we're going to do. I actually think the three of us should go." Bella motioned to herself, Alice and Emmett, "And before you guys say anything, you know we've gone off to do something like this before and we've been fine. Trust us again to do what we know how to do." Then she turned to Edward, "And before you say it, I know. But I'm not going to put you in danger. I can't have that on my mind if something happens to you."

"Don't you dare think that I'm not going with you. What did we say before?" Edward asked sternly.

Bella sighed. She knew he'd pull this one out.

"We're a team and we face things together." Bella said, looking up to his eyes.

"That's right. I'm not going to let you do this without me. They were here because of me too. So I'm going to face this with you whether you like it or not." Edward said, grabbing her hand and kissing it.

"Ok, fine. You're right. But you need to know this isn't going to be an easy thing. I'm putting you in the line of fire with vampires that DO feed off of humans. They're nothing like us. They're like the ones that were here tonight. Only worse." Bella tried to explain.

"I don't care. I'm not letting you go do this without me by your side. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you come home. And if they don't have the black opal to protect them, like the vampires tonight, then I could be of some use to get rid of them. That could very well be what we need to have the upper hand against him." Edward said.

"That's a very good thought, Edward. But what are the chances that they aren't protected by the black opal? And what if they've figured out about your other power and the way to counteract it?" Esme asked.

"Well, you have to have a witch to do the spell for the telepathy. And I'm not sure about the odds of them being protected by black opals, but the telepathy is at least something. We can use it to our advantage if they don't know about it yet. And like Bella said, the sooner we go do this, the less likely they'll be to know that the bounty hunters failed." Edward said.

"I think you're right. But how are we going to get this information on him without having the risk of him seeing dad looking it up?" Bella asked.

"I'll do it. I know him almost as well as Carlisle does but he didn't change me. The fixation isn't there for me. And we can leave your father out of it. He'll know what's going on but we don't need to risk him actually looking for the information himself. We'll get everything figured out and do what needs to be done to get this together. As long as you're all sure you want to go through with this?" Peter said, looking around to Bella, Edward, Alice and Emmett.

They all nodded.

"Ok, Bella, why don't you take him back upstairs so he can get some sleep. We'll do this and if all goes well, you all may be on your way tomorrow or the next day." Peter said.

"Ok. Keep me updated so we know what's going on." Bella said.

"We will. Try to relax and we'll make sure this gets done." Esme said.

Bella grabbed Edward's hand and led him back upstairs.

"Hey, I think I need to let my family know what's going on. This is a big chunk of information that they need to know about and if we get up in the morning and just dash right off, they're not going to understand." Edward said.

"Ok. Do you want me to go with you?" Bella asked.

"No, you'll know what's going on anyways. If I need you, I'll call for you." He said, stopping in front of her door and kissing her before he walked down the hall to Rosalie and Jasper's room.

He knocked on the door lightly and waited. Rosalie cracked the door open to look out to see him.

"Hey, we have more info on who sent the bounty hunters and I wanted to talk to you and Jasper before tomorrow in case things go quickly later on. You up to talking?" Edward asked.

She looked at him for a moment and then let him in.

"Sure, but you're gonna have to tackle Jasper to wake him up. He's been snoring non-stop and I can't get him to stop." Rosalie said.

"You know you could have gone to another room if he's been this loud. They wouldn't have cared." Edward said.

"I don't think I could have slept either way. My brain is so wired right now." Rosalie said, sitting on the bed.

Edward went around to the other side of the bed to where Jasper was and leaned over him, right over his ear. He looked over to Rosalie and chuckled. Rosalie was starting to laugh.

Edward waited for a moment then did something that they always did when they pranked each other in their sleep.

"Jasper!" Edward yelled loudly into his ear and stepped away quickly. And just as he moved, Jasper shot up in the bed, then fell off the bed, onto the floor. Then sat up and looked around frantically. "What, what is it?" Jasper said.

Edward and Rosalie doubled over in laughter while Jasper tried to figure out what was going on.

"You both suck. I was sleeping so well just then." Jasper said.

Edward composed himself enough to respond.

"Yeah, we noticed." then started laughing again.

"Ok peanut gallery. What's going on? Why are you in here anyways, dude?" Jasper asked, rubbing his eyes and got back up on the bed.

Edward leaned up against the dresser while Jasper and Rosalie were both sitting on the bed across from him.

"We think we know who sent the bounty hunters after us tonight…" Edward started.

"Wait, really… How did that happen so soon?" Rosalie asked.

"Well, they were all talking downstairs earlier while Bella and I were in her room. They came up and told us to about it and told us to come down and talk with the rest of them about it. So it turns out that there's a vampire out there, named Aro, and he's the one that sent them." Edward said, and went on to tell them about the link between Aro and Carlisle and how he may have found out about them.

"So, can he see everything about Carlisle and them, or even us?" Rosalie asked.

"No, it's only sometimes from what I understand. But they're doing some research to find out where he is and what we can do to get rid of him. He seems to have it out for Bella's family and I really don't like the look of some of the things I've seen in Bella's head about him. He's a little too creepy. And he's looked at her the wrong way, for my taste. I'm going to have a hard time not launching myself straight at him when we get wherever we end up going. I feel like ripping his throat out." Edward said.

"We're coming with you, so don't argue. You're going to need all the help you can get. And I'm sure as hell not letting you be surrounded by a bunch of vampires that could kill you and be the only human in the area." Jasper said.

"Jasper, this isn't going to be a cakewalk. These vampires feed off of humans. Bella's already freaking out that I'm going to be around for this. And I see her point but I'm not leaving her side. I don't think it's a good idea for you guys to be in the line of fire too." Edward said.

"Edward, he's right. It'll help to have us there. It seems logical to have more fire power. Who all is going anyways?" Rosalie asked.

Edward sighed and hung his head slightly. He had a feeling he wasn't going to win this one. "I'm not sure right now. So far I think it's Bella, Alice, Emmett and I. I don't know if any of the others are going to end up coming with us or not." Edward said.

"See? I think we should go with you guys. I see them as our family too. And I want to help. They helped me out so much the other night, and it only seems fair to return the favor. I know mom's going to freak out about this, but I don't want to just sit here and do nothing. And I do believe someone said I need to start using my powers again. So this seems like as good a time as any to do that." Rosalie said.

Bella walked over to Jasper and Rosalie's door and stood outside.

**Babe, you know they're not going to back down from this. We'll protect them as best as we can, but you know they're not going to let us go without them.** Bella thought to Edward.

Edward looked over to the door and knew she was on the other side.

"Alright, if all three of you are going to gang up on me, then fine. You two can come with us. But you're going to have to be the ones to tell mom. And Bella you can get in here too.'' Edward said.

The door opened and Bella walked in.

"You know they're right. If you're insisting on going, then why am I going to not let them come too? And we very well may need their powers even if Aro has the black opal to protect him or them. You saw how many vampires are usually around him at any given time. It's not going to be just a couple of them. We're talking a dozen or more. And we're not going to have the same amount of vampires on our side for this one. You know we need the help. And if they're willing and understand that this could get very bad for all of us, then ok. I'm not going to stop them. I may not like that I'm putting them in danger, because believe me, I hate it, but this seems to be the best way to do this." Bella said.

Edward didn't think she would go with this, but didn't really have a choice. He knew they would fight him on this one so there was no point in arguing.

"Ok. I'm not going to fight you on this one, but I will say that this is totally unfair that my own family and my fiancé are taking sides against me." Edward said, crossing his arms and trying to pout.

Bella, Jasper and Rosalie all started laughing at that. Bella was in front of him in a flash with her arms around him.

"You know we don't have much of a choice here. We'll make sure you're ALL protected. I have a feeling this might work out just fine." Bella said.

"What are you, clairvoyant now?" Edward asked with a smirk.

"Hey, don't laugh." She said, smacking him on the chest, "You know I've had a knack for knowing if things are going to turn out ok or not sometimes. Em has been able to sense others of us being around us. And Ali just has a knack for being… well, Alice." Bella said laughing.

"I HEARD THAT!" Alice screamed from downstairs where they could just hear it.

They laughed at that, and then Alice was suddenly at the door.

"You know I'm more than just a pretty face, honey. I have a penchant for defusing situations. Whether you want to call that a gift or not is up to you." Alice said, and sticking her tongue out at her, then left.

"Love you Al!" Bella yelled after her.

"Love you Bell!" Alice yelled back.

"So, who's telling mom?" Edward asked.

Jasper and Rosalie both looked at each other.

"Jasper" "Rosalie" They both said at the same time.

"Ugh. Ok, knock it out." Edward said.

Bella looked up at him questioningly. Then she got it.

Then Jasper and Rosalie took on a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors. And Jasper lost.

"HA!" Rosalie declared.

"Why do I always lose against her?" Jasper asked, disbelievingly.

"Because you know each other too well and she's the only one that pays attention to it." Edward said, laughing.

"Fine, I'll go tell her. But if I'm not back in a half an hour, then you know she killed me over this." Jasper said jokingly.

They all cracked up laughing at this.

Jasper went to tell his mother about their plans so far. And Bella and Edward went back to her room.

"So do you think you'll be able to sleep a little now?" Bella asked as they lay back down on the bed.

"I don't know. It's still hard not knowing what's going to happen. There are so many things still running through my mind." Edward said as he held Bella in his arms.

"I know. Do you want to try what we did earlier? It seemed to have helped." Bella said.

"Sure. It cleared my mind very well, actually." Edward said, smiling down at her. Bella grabbed the remote again and turned the music back on. This time it was an instrumental version of 'Lord of the Dance'.

"You do love classical music don't you?" Edward asked.

"It's soothing when I want to relax or get some art done. It's very inspiring." Bella said.

And then Bella cleared his mind for him, and Edward finally dozed off to sleep.

A few hours later there was a knock on Bella's door. Edward stirred a little and Bella told whoever it was to come in.

Esme, Alice and Emmett walked into the room and stood by the door.

Bella nudged Edward awake. He looked up to see the three of them standing there. They both sat up against the headboard and listened to what they had to say.

"We found out where he is. Looks like we're going to Italy." Alice said.

"Wait, he's back in Volterra? I knew he'd go back to the same country, but to go back to the same area… I thought he was smarter than that." Bella said.

"I think he didn't do too much damage there, and that's why he went back. Most other places, he's left a mess behind. He loved Volterra too much. And from what we can tell, he kept the same castle there. So it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. You've been there, you know what that place is like." Esme said.

"So, what's the plan? Are we going to go burn the castle down or what?" Bella asked almost totally seriously.

"Well actually, I want you all to have the lighters with you over there. I know you won't be able to take them with you, but as soon as you're there, go grab some. I want you guys to at least have that defense for yourselves. But you're going to have to go there, and find out how many vampires are protecting him and get rid of them too. You know how he is, Bella, and he will be heavily guarded. You know they won't be merciful of you killing him. I want you guys to be very careful. It's not going to be as simple as it would be with all of us there. But some of us need to stay here in case more come back and someone needs to protect Elizabeth. So this is all up to the six of you." Esme said.

"We're going to have to go back by Edward's house to get their stuff but we should have enough time when they get up." Emmett said.

"When do we leave?" Edward asked.

They all looked to the clock on the wall where it read two- fifteen a.m.

"We book the first flight we could find and it leaves at ten a.m." Alice said.

* * *

><p>Ok, I hope some of this explains a bit of the story. We're about to get some craziness going in the next chapters. I really want to finish my other story so I can get more done with this one. I'm going back to check to see how far I've actually written with this one, and I'm going to hunker down and get it done. So stay with me.<p>

Laters!


	16. Chapter 16

Hey! I'm back again.

Ok….. I may have fibbed before… I didn't realized how much of this story that I actually had written already… and it ended up being less… a lot less. So I'm probably going to go back to once a week, maybe longer, depending on how writing goes. I'm so sorry guys. I know you were counting on more updates sooner. But I WILL finish this story, no matter what. It just may take a bit longer than I thought. Trust me, there's nothing I hate more than when you start reading a story, and it never gets finished. It's a huge pet-peeve of mine. (I also started a new job this week, so that's going to come into play with my writing too.)

Anyhoozles, meh, you know the usual fucking song and dance. Lola is the beta (and I'll say it again, NO MAJOR FOR YOU:p)

And SM owns it *tear, sniffle*

Ok, get on with it!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

Bella, Edward, Alice, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie were all in Carlisle's Acura MDX, on their way to the airport.

Alice turned around in her seat and asked Jasper, "So how much trouble did you get in when you told your mom we were all going to do this?"

"Seriously, I had to restrain her from busting down Bella and Edward's door this morning when I told her. She was a little beyond pissed. But I finally calmed her down. I may have lied to her and told her that we wouldn't be in that much danger, but I just didn't want her to freak out anymore than she already was. I just think all of this stuff is hitting her too fast. I mean we've had a little bit longer to be around each other and she feels like things are going way too fast with Bella and Edward. Which under normal circumstances, that would be true. But with what's happened between the two of them, how can you really deny that fact that they're suppose to be together? They may as well be the same person sometimes because they're so attuned to each other." Jasper said and turned towards Edward and Bella in the front seats, "And it's really sickening sometimes too!" He added sarcastically.

The whole car started laughing.

"Look, I know she's having a hard time with this, but she said she was going to try to get on board with this and understand where we're coming from. But I can understand how she would freak out about this trip. We dropped the vampire bombshell on her a few days ago and then the wedding, and now this trip where we're going to kill vampires. I think she would have chained us to the wall if she hadn't seen how calm all of your parents were about this. I just hope while we're gone she can wrap her head around all of this and understand why we're doing it this way." Edward said.

"She will, babe. She just needs time. You know she loves you and wants you to be happy. Don't worry too much. We'll talk to her when we come back. I just think she needs to get to know us better to understand how we are together and how our family is. She's only seen a little bit of our nature. And part of that wasn't the best thing to show her since we're trying not to freak her out. But I think the more she sees how much we mean to each other, she'll start to come around. At least I'm hoping she will." Bella said.

"Ok, that last bit wasn't so reassuring. You're worried she's not going to go along with our decision, aren't you?" Edward asked.

"Well, yeah I'm worried. What if she doesn't accept our choice to be together? I can't lose you." Bella said, worriedly.

"You're not going to lose me. I will talk to her and make her see why we're doing this. Yes, she can be stubborn as hell, but I know she'll be ok with us in the long run. I'm just going to have to reign in her mood swings when they hit. She hasn't been feeling that great since before our move and I think she's worried about that too. She doesn't know what it is, but she's felt sick for over a month and a half. I finally told her to go find out what it is." Edward said.

"When is she going to see a doctor?" Bella asked.

"Monday. I think she's scared that it's something major." Edward said.

Bella reached over and grabbed his hand. "I know you're scarred too. But you've got to keep it together for her when you get back. I know how you are, and you never want her to see you 'weak' or worried… Wait…" She saw something in his head then, "You think she's not going to tell you what's really wrong with her?" Bella said.

"I really don't think she will. She's always tried to protect us from things like that, but since dad died, I know there's not much else in the world that could be worse than finding him like that." Edward said.

"I know, but she probably wants to take the pressure off of you all if something happens to be wrong with her. How about this, if we're back by Monday, why don't you go with her. Just to make sure you're in the loop on whatever it could be." Bella suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea. I'll talk to her about it later when I call her. Jasper, what do you guys think?" Edward asked.

"I agree. I think someone needs to go with her. I know she's downplaying how much pain she's in. So I think if someone goes with her, she'll stop with the bullshit and accept that we deserve to know what's going on if it's that serious." Jasper said.

"I'm with Jasper on that." Rosalie said.

…

"I seriously hate planes. Remind me again why I agreed to this…" Jasper said, trying to calm his nerves.

"Because both of our families were under attack last night and we're going to take out the source of the bane of our existence. Does that help?" Alice said from across the aisle, trying to lighten his mood.

"Actually, a little… Gah, I hate heights. I just need distractions from it." Jasper said.

"Well did you grab anything at the airport for the flight to keep your mind off of it?" Alice asked.

"No he didn't. He was too keyed up about getting on the plane to grab anything. He gets distracted easily." Rosalie said.

Alice handed him her iPod.

"Here. Trust me, there's a little bit of everything on there." Alice said.

"Are you sure?" Jasper asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course. Don't worry; I've got my ways of entertaining myself." Alice said, tapping her ear. Telling him that she'd be listening to other people on the plane.

"You have no shame, do you?" Jasper asked with a laugh.

"Nope. It's not like I'm gonna invade on someone's personal time, but I can still listen to the juicy details of people's conversations." Alice said with a wink.

Jasper smiled at her, went ahead and put the earphones in and started up the iPod. He found that Alice had so many of his favorites on it. And he gladly relaxed into his seat with the music.

Bella looked back at Alice from her seat a few rows in front of them.

**Don't you dare mess with him, Ali. Keep it to yourself for a while until this all blows over.** Bella thought to her.

**Can I at least flirt a little? And we can pick it up and figure out where we can go from there when it all blows over with you two? I just don't want to leave him hanging, thinking I'm not interested.** Alice thought.

**I know, I know. Just don't let his mom get wind of this. If she does, she will rip our heads off.** Bella thought. And she was saying this in almost all seriousness.

**I gotcha. I would really like to stay in one piece to be able to try to date him later. **Alice thought smugly.

**Ali, I'm serious. I don't care if you guys are friends, but just don't let anything get back to their mom, yet. You heard how sick she's been. I don't want to put anymore stress on her than we already have. I know I'm not being fair to you about this, but try to see it from where I'm sitting. I already feel bad because I didn't realize how sick she was. And I'm gonna feel even worse if there's something seriously wrong with her. So at least wait until we find out what the doctor says.** Bella thought.

**Ok, ok. I don't want to stress her out anymore either. I like her, even though she kind of freaked out on you guys. **Alice thought.

**Ok. I know you like him, but I also don't want you to hurt him. You know as well as I do that you don't exactly keep men around for very long. Even if they are vampires. **Bella thought.

**Hey! Why are you leaving me out to dry here? You know Em is just as bad as I am. And all that mess with that one chick was far worse that anything I've done.** Alice thought.

**I know, you're right.** Bella thought.

**Hey! I heard that shit!** Emmett thought.

Alice and Bella busted out laughing, with several of the passengers on the plane looking at them strangely.

Edward leaned over to her ear, "Do I even want to know?" He asked.

"Not really. It's not that important. But if you really want to know, you can look in my head." Bella said.

He looked and saw what they had been talking about.

"Well for starters, thank you. And second, are they really that bad about the opposite sex?" Edward asked.

"You're welcome. You know I love your mother. And yes, they can be. I just don't want him to get hurt. If Ali wants to be serious with him, then she's going to have to focus on him. But that's not important right now. I want you to try to get some more sleep. I know you're still tired from last night." Bella said, then turned around to Jasper and Rosalie to get their attention, "That goes for you guys too. I know you didn't get that much sleep last night and I want you to have enough rest. When we get there, we're not going to have a lot of time to slow down."

"Ok." they both said.

"We're not going to go to the hotel first because the sooner we can get this over with, the less time they'll have to catch wind that we're on the ground here. They will come and find us if they figure out we're here." Bella said.

Jasper and Rosalie both nodded.

"Are you two still sure you want to do this? I can put you on the plane back once we land if you're not sure." Bella said.

"No, we're not letting you guys go alone. We're already here, so we're not backing out." Jasper said.

"Ok. Get some sleep and we'll wake you guys up when we're close." Bella said.

They nodded and she turned back around and laid her head on Edward's shoulder.

"You always take such good care of people, did you know that?" Edward asked.

She looked up at him questioningly.

"What do you mean? I'm no different than anyone else." Bella said.

"No, it's just that you seem to know how to be a mother without actually being a mother. And I don't mean like you're telling people what to do. You just always look out for the people you love so well. You protect them fiercely, no matter what kind of danger it puts you in. I noticed that last night during the fight. And then just now when you were making sure we all get rest before we get there so we can go straight from the airport. You're just that type of person to make sure everyone around you is taken care of. Even Ali and Em. You've always seemed like the rock solid part of the group of you three." Edward said.

Bella leaned over and whispered to him,

"Thank you for that. That's just how I've been for the past three hundred years, and I don't know another way to be. I mean, yes I let myself go to my other side when I hunt or, in our case last night, am in a fight. I really think it has to do with how my mom and dad raised me. It's not really any different from how humans are raised. You know nature versus nurture? It's the same thing for us. Most of the time it just depends on how a person is before they're turned, because there really aren't an abundance of us that have been born the way the three of us have. We could have turned out completely different if our parents had been anything like Aro. I would have been viscous, deceitful, vile, and I could keep going on. But my parents were amazing and knew how to love. We're like any other family, really. Just a different body to live in now. I just can't imagine not growing up and being who I am now." Bella said.

"I could never see you as anything other than what you are right now. You'd be such an amazing mother." Edward whispered back.

All of a sudden Alice and Emmett both spit out their drinks a few rows back.

**Oh crap.** Bella thought.

"What?" Edward said.

Bella turned back around in her seat to look at Alice and Emmett.

**Don't go there. I'm not listening to you two this time.** Bella thought to them.

Alice and Emmett knew they couldn't start their normal rant on the subject on a plane at high altitude. So they let it go this time.

**You win this time. **Emmett thought to her.

"Bell, what is it?" Edward asked her.

She turned back around and laid her head on his shoulder.

**Edward, vampires can't have children. My mom tried again after she was changed and she wasn't able to. It's just not possible for us. I'm sorry, I should have told you before we got this far along in our relationship.** Bella thought.

Edward thought about that for a few minutes. In the end, it didn't really matter to him as long as he was able to be with her forever.

**Baby, you know as long as I have you, I'll be fine. We don't have to have a child to be a complete family. But, have you tried to have a child yourself?** Edward thought.

**No, I haven't tried, because I've never had someone to try with. But I know that Ali has had her fair share of men and I'm not sure if any of them have gone unprotected. I would like to think they're not that irresponsible, but I still wouldn't put it past them. But she still hasn't shown any signs of becoming pregnant. I just don't think our bodies are any different than our mother's though. **Bella thought.

**Well, your eating habits aren't the exact same as their's so maybe that could be too. We could always try if you want to later on. And if not, we can always adopt, if you want to.** Edward thought.

**Edward, I need to tell you that I've tried to adopt. This was when I was on my own and my parents were not in the same area as us. And the adoption agency wouldn't give a child to someone with no husband or any family around to help out. I can't say that I blame them. I wouldn't exactly hand over a child to a single woman with any family or support around either. But I still wanted a child at that point in my existence. I also think they would be more willing to give the two of us a child when we're married and we have at least one of our families around, if not both. I still want your family to be near us for as long as we can. I know we would be asking them a lot every time we moved, but I'd really like for them to be around.** Bella thought.

**Thank you. I'd love for them to be around too. And it's ok. We can try whatever there is to try to have a child. And if we can't, we'll go for adoption. We'll figure it out if you still want a child. Don't worry. **He thought, as he wrapped his arms around her.

**Thank you. You should try to get some sleep. We'll talk some more about this later. I love you.** Bella thought.

**I love you too, my Bella.** Edward thought.

They both closed their eyes, with Bella's head on Edward's shoulder. Edward fell off to sleep, and Bella pretended to sleep.

As they got closer to Italy, Bella woke Edward so they could wake Jasper and Rosalie as well.

They both turned in their seats and saw that Jasper and Rosalie were both still sleeping soundly and Bella got an idea.

**Oh, I think I'd love you even more if you did that to him.** Edward thought.

**You're in this with me. **Bella thought back.

Edward nodded.

Bella and Edward leaned as far over as their seats would aloud. Jasper and Rosalie were sleeping with their heads close to each other. Bella and Edward maneuvered to either side of Jasper and Rosalie's heads and lined up their mouths with each of their ears. Bella looked up to Edward to see if he was ready. He smiled telling her he was.

**1...2...3 **Bella thought, then they each blew air as hard as they could into each of their ears, causing Jasper and Rosalie to lean away and collide their heads with one another. Bella and Edward busted out laughing as hard as they could while Jasper and Rosalie rubbed the sides of their heads.

"What the hell, you guys? That was worse than what you did last night, Edward." Jasper said, irritated.

Alice and Emmett both were laughing in their seats across the aisle.

"Hey, at least it was able to lighten the mood a little. Which is what you're best at Jasper." Bella said with a laugh.

"What does that make me, then? Just another one of his casualties?" Rosalie asked.

"Well, yeah, sort of. You're also his twin. So it's expected that you'll be a part of his antics either way. Even if you're not aware of it." Edward said, laughing.

"I hate being the youngest sometimes." Rosalie said under her breathe.

Bella, Alice and Emmett each heard her, and Edward inadvertently heard her through Bella, and all started laughing.

"Ok, we're about to land in a little while. So we need to be ready to leave as soon as we get off the plane." Bella said.

"Ugh. This is one of the parts of the flight I hate." Jasper said, burying his face in his hands.

"You'll be fine. It'll be over before you know it." Rosalie said, rubbing his back.

The plane made it's descent to the landing strip at Peretola airport, around Florence. Once they were off the plane, they made their way to get their luggage, and then to the car rental counter. Bella rented two cars for them.

"Here you are Missi West. I hope you all have a nice time here in Italy." The rental agent said with a lovely Italian accent, handing her both sets of keys.

"Grazie." Bella told her, turning with the keys in hand, and walking towards the door.

"Hold the phone. Did she just refer to you as _Mrs._ West?" Edward asked when they stopped walking.

"Uh… yeah… One of my fake ID's is Mrs. Sophia West. And I'm married to Peter West." Bella said, holding up both of their ID's.

"Wait, what? How do you even have these? And are we the only ones with fake ID's?" Edward asked.

"No, we all have them. I didn't want to give them any sort of heads up that we were here. But we obviously are the married couple, since we're going to be married in a few weeks anyways. So it was only fitting." Bella said, reaching her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss.

"Ok, so who the hell are we?" Jasper asked.

Edward turned and glared at him.

"Don't." Bella said, knowing he'd go and tackle his brother. "Here. You guys are still siblings, and Ali and Em are my sister and brother." She said, handing them each their ID's, "Jeremy West, and Carrie West. And Ali and Em are Angelika and Stefan Hanna."

"Ok, that's a lot to remember. So, who's driving?" Jasper asked.

"Don't even think about it Jasper. I'm driving one car and Ali's driving the other. You guys can ride with either of us, but I need someone in the other car so I can contact them instantly." Bella said as they walked out to the parking lot where the rental cars were.

"Have you heard of a cell phone? Is it really that impractical to pick one up and call?" Jasper asked, teasing her.

"I will bite you, and not in a good way if you keep messing with me." Bella said, feigning seriousness.

He threw his hands up in defeat.

Bella started laughing when she saw a bit of worry in his eyes.

"Oh come on Jasper. You honestly think I'd bite you? Wait, yes I would, but I doubt I'd intentionally do anything dangerous to you." Bella said, still laughing.

They reached the cars, and found that they were two dark grey Mercedes CLS.

"Wow. Nice cars. You even travel in style, don't you Bella?" Jasper said, with a smile, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"Not always. But we may as well this time." Bella said.

"Alright, let's get going." Alice said.

They all piled into the two cars with Edward and Bella in the first car. And Alice, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie in the second one. They made their way to the gas station to grab a few things and some lighters. Then started driving south-west towards Volterra. It was a short trip to get there, but then they had to maneuver the streets once they got there to the countryside where they would find Aro's home.

Edward could see they were getting closer to their destination. He could also see how anxious Bella was getting.

"You're getting nervous…" Edward said.

"Yeah… He's the one vampire that kind of scares me. Ali and Em know this. That's why they haven't said much since we left. They don't want me to run back home before we even start this. I don't think I would run, but he can be very viscous and I'm scared for the three of you. I've seen him with the humans they hunt and they are ruthless when he gets his hands on them. And the vampires he chooses to have around him share his 'attitude' about how they treat humans and they don't hold back. You guys need to always stay around one of us so they can't get to you. We can only do so much if it turns into a fight." Bella said, with her eyes trained on the road.

Edward took her hand in his and kissed it.

"Babe, don't worry so much. This plan is the best option we have." Edward said.

"I hope you're right. I don't know if your mother would ever forgive me if something were to happen to any of you. I already know I wouldn't forgive myself. I'm putting you guys in this situation and it's my responsibility to make sure you all make it home in one piece." Bella said.

"Woah, woah, woah. You already knew I wasn't letting you come do this without me, so I was already on board. And Jasper and Rosalie volunteered themselves too. So don't start with the 'I'm the one who put you in danger' crap. We volunteered, and we weren't going to let you do this alone. Now get it through your head, that we're a team in this. We're all here to do a part. Ok?" Edward said.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I just can't stop wondering if it would have been better if we came alone to deal with them. I'm not sure I could control my temper if he starts in on you." Bella said.

"Hey, we can take care of it. You're strong. So are Ali and Em. And there's a reason we're here. We've got the fire power to help you kill them. Don't let this get to you. As soon as this is over, we're going home together and finish planning our wedding. So I can spend eternity with you and never let you go." Edward said, leaning over to kiss her check reverently.

"I love you so much. You're all I've ever wanted." Bella said.

"As I love you." Edward said.

They continued on the drive through the countryside. As they came closer the where they would find Aro, they saw more and more purple blooms and boxwood shrubs.

They stopped about a mile away from the home from what Bella remembered of it. And decided to walk the rest of the way.

"Alright, we need to decide if it should just be me to go up to the house first, or if we should all go." Bella said.

"Wait, why?" Edward asked, then saw what it was she was talking about. "Ooooh."

"Yeah, so you see my dilemma?" Bella said.

"Yeah, I do." Edward said, beginning to think.

"What'd we miss this time?" Rosalie asked.

"They'll be able to hear your heartbeat the second you step up to the door. So it's going to be easy for them to know someone's here." Bella explained.

"Well, why don't we just go for it? I mean, I can sense them so it should be somewhat in our favor. I'll know how many and where they are." Emmett said.

Bella thought for a minute, wondering if it would be best to do it that way.

"Ok, what if you and I go up to the door first and see how many are there and we'll go from there. We need to at least get past the front door." Bella said.

"If you're sure?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah, then we'll get them to come up behind us and we'll look for Aro. Hopefully he won't be surrounded by his goons. But I'm not going to hold my breath on that one." Bella said.

They continued a talking a little more until they came to the last turn of the driveway, and stopped in their tracks.

"Holy shit! This place isn't a house, it's a fucking castle." Jasper said.

"This could be a little bit more difficult than we thought." Alice said.

* * *

><p>I know all of this was mostly just information, but just roll with me here. (OMG I'M SO KILLING JAMIE NOW. I can't get this song out of my head. I blame her)<p>

There's still a lot left to this story, which I'm trying to figure out if I want to compress it, or write everything out…(yes I'm thinking out loud…. Or….. You know what I mean. carry on)

Laters!


	17. Chapter 17

Hiiiiiiiiiii! How is everyone?

So, we're back to weekly updates. At least I'm hoping so. I'm pretty much done with Last Kiss, so I'll have that time to work on this story, but with my work schedule, it's going to be rough. So just bare with me through it.

Anyway, Lola is my beta(if you haven't figured that out yet, you're an idiot. Lol) She's the bestest.

And SM owns the exciting world of Twilight, and I… own a computer. :p

Ok, I'm done being weird, read on!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

As they looked at the castle, they became more worried about how they were going to try to do this.

"Uh, Bella? Are you sure this is still a good idea?" Jasper asked, with his mouth hanging open.

"Would you guys get a grip? It's really not that bad. I just came to grasps with this whole thing and you guys are starting to make me second guess myself again. Come on, Edward said we can do this, and we can. You three are our fire power, and as much as I hate to put you in danger, we can't do this without you. I know he's going to have vampires all around him and it may be as many as we fought last night. It could be even more. But I don't want you guys getting spooked and bailing when we're in there. Either we keep going as a group, or someone turns back now if they can't do this. What's it gonna be?" Bella said, trying to get them all to affirm what they wanted to do.

They all looked around at each other trying to figure out if each of them were sure about going ahead.

Alice spoke up first. "B, you know the two of us are in. We've wanted to get back at this asshole for years. Now we can finally do it and we're here. We're not backing out. You know we've got your back, no matter what."

Bella nodded then looked to Jasper and Rosalie, who she was most worried about.

Jasper thought for a minute longer and nodded his head, looking back up to Bella. "Yeah, I'm not backing out either."

Rosalie was biting her lip and bouncing on the balls of her feet thinking and then looked over to Edward and Bella. "You're not going in without me either. You're my family, we're doing this together."

Bella nodded to them. "Alright, let's keep going. We're gonna have to stop talking now because the closer we get, the better they'll be able to hear us. So, any questions?"

They all shook their heads.

Edward grabbed Bella's hand as they turned and continued to walk towards the castle.

Alice walked beside Jasper, and Emmett walked beside Rosalie. They would be each other's protection throughout this confrontation.

Once they got closer to the castle, Bella motioned for Emmett to go up to the door to see if he could sense how many vampires were on the other side.

Emmett closed his eyes and focused his senses and could only make out two others. He held up his hand to signal that there was one there. Bella nodded.

**Ok, we're gonna have to play this kind of by ear. We're going to knock and kill when they answer. Em, you and I are going to have to do it. Ali, stay back with the others. This should be quick to get past them. But then we're going to have to go find his main room where he always is with the others. Remember to follow my lead and keep the others safe. I'm not going back to the states without any of them.** Bella thought to the three of them.

They each nodded and Bella turned to Jasper and Rosalie and mouthed 'stay behind Ali'.

They got behind her and readied themselves in case something happened. Edward pulled his lighter out of his pocket to make sure it was quickly on hand. Jasper and Rosalie both took their lighters out too. Bella turned and mouthed to them, 'wait 'til I tell you to'.

They nodded again. Bella and Emmett stepped up to the door and Bella knocked. They didn't have to wait long for the door to be answered. As soon as it opened, Bella grabbed the vampire's throat and yanked him out the door. She grabbed his head and ripped it from his body, and Emmett ripped his arms off.

**We've gotta work fast here. If they find that he's not around, they're going to suspect that something is up. We need as much time as we can get. They may have already heard us ripping him apart.** Bella thought to Alice, Emmett, and Edward.

They nodded and Edward and Bella turned to go inside first. Bella looked around the entryway to see if there was anyone else they would have to deal with before they went looking for Aro.

**Em, anything close by?** Bella thought to her.

Emmett sensed around and felt nothing relatively close.

**I'm not sensing anything really close. But I do think there are a lot of them here. **Emmett thought, with a little hesitation.

Bella gave her a questioning look. Emmett just shrugged.

**Ok, follow me and keep together.** Bella thought. Then she touched her hand to Edward's cheek.

**Remember that I love you, so much. Please be careful.** Bella thought to him.

**I love you too. We'll be ok.** Edward thought to her. Then kissed her palm.

Bella turned and started walking down the hallway towards where she knew Aro would be. They walked down the long main hallway, then turned to go up another, making their way deeper into the small castle.

**WAIT! STOP!** Emmett thought.

The three of them suddenly stopped in their tracks. Then Edward, Jasper and Rosalie stopped right with them.

Bella turned to look at Emmett to see what made him stop.

**Two guards, outside the door, around the corner, down the hall.** Emmett thought.

Bella and Alice nodded.

**Ok, they should be able to hear the heartbeats right now so they'll come this way soon. That will lure them this way. We can get rid of them, then we should be able to get into the great hall with no problem.** Bella thought.

The other three nodded.

They stood there for a few moments then Emmett could sense them coming in their direction.

**They're coming.** Emmett thought.

Bella motioned for Edward to step back with Jasper and Rosalie. Alice and Emmett stepped forward to Bella's side as they could tell the two guards were coming closer. The three of them crouched down so that they could surprise the guards. Edward felt uneasy about watching Bella do this without him.

Bella could tell he was getting antsy.

**Edward, don't you dare try to get into this. We're more than capable of handling two guards. Just stay with Jasper and Rose.** Bella thought.

As the guards turned the corner, Bella pounced on one of the guards, and Emmett and Alice jumped on the other. Bella quickly and quietly ripped the guard's head off, while Alice and Emmett ripped the arms and head from the other guard.

**Ok, get them out of the hallway so no one finds them. **Bella thought.

Edward and Emmett both dragged the bodies to the nearest open room.

When they returned, they continued to slowly walk down the hallway towards the great hall. Bella, Alice and Emmett could hear vampires in the great hall, clearly.

**Ok, Edward, can you try to freeze them from here?** Bella thought.

**I can try, but it's hard when I can't see everything or haven't seen the room before.** Edward thought.

Bella nodded.

Edward stood in front of the door and focused his energy and tried to freeze the vampires in the great hall.

He looked over at Bella to see if it worked.

**I'm not sure if it worked. **Bella thought.

**I'll go in to check and try to distract them if it didn't. Just stay close by in case it didn't and I need you.** Alice thought.

**Are you sure, Ali? You know I'll do it. This was my plan to come here.** Bella thought.

**B, don't start. I have no problem doing this. I want a crack at this guy anyways. Maybe this will be my chance.** Alice thought with a smirk.

**Ali, don't do anything stupid.** Bella thought with a stern look.

**You know me…** Alice thought.

**Yeah, that's what I'm worried about…** Bella thought.

Alice smiled, then turned back to the door. Bella and the others pulled back a safe distance so they wouldn't be noticed right away.

Alice slightly opened the door to the great hall and peeked in. Bella could see through Alice that they hadn't frozen.

Bella turned to Edward and the others and shook her head.

**It didn't work.** Bella thought.

Edward hung his head slightly.

**Hey, don't. You tried. Maybe it'll work once we're in there.** Bella thought.

Edward nodded.

In the great hall, Bella could see that Alice was now standing before Aro. Along with several other vampires being in the room. Alice was looking around the room at them all. She spotted one that they had come across, long ago.

Kate Denali.

**What is that bitch doing here?** Bella thought to Emmett.

**Chill it. We can't just go in there and tear her to shreds. I know you can't stand her, but calm down. **Emmett thought.

In the great hall, Aro was walking up to Alice as she finally turned to see the rest of the room.

"How lovely to see you, my beautiful Alice. To what do I owe this wonderful surprise?" Aro asked with his thick Italian accent. He took Alice's hand and kissed each side of her face. He was slightly older than Carlisle, in his later forties when he was turned. But he's one of the oldest vampires there is. He had long, dark brown hair and bright red eyes and dressed in grey slacks and an off-white button down shirt.

"Oh I was just traveling around and heard you were here and thought I'd stop in." Alice said.

"Well I'm so glad you could. I haven't seen your counterparts in such a long time. How have they been?" Aro asked, almost masking his distain for Bella, Alice, Emmett and their families.

**That's our cue. Let's go.** Bella thought to the others. Motioning for them to follow. They walked down the hall to the doors of the great hall.

"Well why don't you ask them yourself? Since you're the one that sent bounty hunters after us to kill us." Alice said calmly and coolly.

Bella and the others then walked into the great hall as Alice backed up to stand with them.

Aro looked almost taken back seeing the rest of the group join Alice. His stare landed on Edward, Jasper and Rosalie and you could tell he had a look of distaste for them. But he quickly masked it and looked to Bella and the other three, smiling.

"My dear children, how could you think I would ever send anyone to harm you? And who have do you have with you?" Aro asked. He seemed to be almost confused, but Bella could tell something was off with him. She knew him far better than the rest and knew he was never one to be on the up and up where humans were involved. He usually tried to have their blood first, but restraint was evident with him at the moment. Like he was almost afraid to be around this group.

"You know what Aro? Cut the shit. You're the only one in our world that would come after us for little to no reason. We know it was you. You're the only one that could have seen them" Bella motioned to Edward, Jasper and Rosalie behind her, "with our family." Bella said in and almost harsh tone.

Aro looked back at Edward, Jasper and Rosalie with narrowed eyes. Then he looked back at Bella.

Bella could tell something else was going on with him. He showed more irritation towards Edward and his family than she would have thought. A few of the other vampires in the room were gathering around to see what was happening with their new arrivals.

"But I can see that there is something more than what we came here for, to begin with. Something else is going on… You know them from somewhere else, don't you?" Bella said, trying to work through her thoughts.

Aro looked around the room to the other vampires quickly.

"My dear Bella, why would I know anything of them. We would have already drained their blood if we had come across these humans before. Although they are humans, I can tell they aren't exactly fully human somehow. What are they then? There is something slightly off about their being." Aro said.

Bella looked at him again quizzically. Somehow, she knew that he already knew what they were. Her instincts were screaming at her to get them out of here.

**Edward, I need for you to try to freeze them again. There's something else going on here and I don't think it's going to end well.** Bella thought.

**I'm on it.** Edward thought.

He knew he wouldn't be able to use his hands to do this in case it didn't work so he put his mind to work and focused on the other vampires in the room. He tried to freeze the room, but it didn't seem to work. So he tried again on a smaller scale, but it still didn't work.

**Babe, it's not working. I think we're stuck with regular fire power here.** Edward thought.

Bella took a deep breathe to calm her worries.

**Ali, Em, freezing and blowing them up isn't going to work. We're going to have to go with actual fire to get rid of them.** Bella thought.

**Damn it.** Alice thought.

"Look, Aro, quit jerking our chains and just tell us what's going on. You have that look like you could kill someone. And it's not completely directed at me or my 'siblings'. And it's not a look of hunger either. So you don't necessarily want blood…" Bella said, getting more and more worried with the possibilities that she was coming up with in her head.

**Edward, have your lighter ready. I really don't like where this is going with him. He's too controlled right now. This really isn't like him. And he's got more vampires around him than usual. **Bella thought.

**Ok.** Edward thought.

Edward turned slightly to Jasper and nudged him. Jasper looked out of the corner of his eye. Edward put his hands in his pocket where his lighter was. Jasper caught on.

"Mia caro, I would not cause you and your friends harm. You may find your way of life more fitting, but I will not fault you for that." Aro said.

Bella narrowed her eyes at him. Aro would never be one to say that to her. He had always ridiculed her and her family because her family was disgracing vampires everywhere because they didn't fall in line.

**He's definitely up to something. This is not like him to be so gracious about us.** Bella thought to Edward, Alice and Emmett.

**Kate's keeping an eye on the others and us. I don't know if she's going to be a threat to us or not. **Emmett thought.

Bella looked out the corner of her eye, in Kate's direction and saw her watching the vampires around him. Her stance was defensive, like she's about to jump in and fight.

"Don't hand me that line of crap, Aro. You've got more vampires on site than you ever do. This only means you're up to something. If it's not the fact that you sent an arsenal of vampire bounty hunters after us last night, then what is it? And if you haven't figured it out by now, your little minions are all dead. No one comes after me or my family and lives. Don't think that I'm that stupid and tell me it wasn't you. I've know you since I was born. You have never kept your contempt for us, dormant. So just cut to the chase and spill it!" Bella said, getting more irritated with him.

As soon as Bella's voice rose at the end, the other vampires in the room surrounded their group. Bella, Alice and Emmett took a protective stance around Edward, Jasper and Rose. Bella, Emmett and Alice noticed though that Kate was standing against the other vampires, and helping protect the six of them.

"What is the meaning of this, Kate? How can you stand along with them? We have been accepting of you and your diet since you got here. And now you're just going to throw that back in my face?" Aro sneered at Kate.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm not going to let you attack them for their lifestyle choice. Especially when you're reasoning for attacking them was because they came into contact with your former targets. I'm not going to stand for the fact that you can't handle that someone got the upper hand on you and they fought back. You went after that witch last year and you knew he would never give up where his family was. Just because you thought they were a threat to our world." Kate said, menacingly.

"Wait, he went after a witch?… Oh my god, you sent those hunters after my family! You had our father killed!" Edward shouted towards Aro.

Bella, Alice and Emmett each let out a feral growl towards Aro.

Aro was darting his eyes around the room to make sure none of his other vampires were turning against him.

"You have no proof of anything. There could have been a number of supernatural beings that could have sent someone to kill them…" Aro started, but was cut off by Bella.

"No, it sounds more like something you would do. You have a fear of anything else in this world being more powerful than you are. And the fact that these three are a few of the most powerful witches in the world, scares the hell out of you." Bella said, trying to get a response out of him.

Aro just looked at her. He was trying to figure out how to get out of this situation.

**Bella, we can't take on twenty-something vampires on our own… We need to get them out of here… **Alice thought.

**No! I'm not letting this fucker get away with killing Edward's father and trying to kill the rest of us. **Bella thought.

**Ali, if we don't he's just going to come back after us and them. We need to stop him now.** Emmett thought.

**Ok. I just hope you guys know what you're doing.** Alice thought.

"Could you blame me if I did have a problem with that? Someone that could throw my world into disarray, must be taken care of. I will not tolerate being over-thrown!" Aro said, with malice in his eyes.

"You asshole!" Bella shouted as she lunged for Aro.

Aro's guard stepped in and ripped Bella away from him.

"Go!" Bella shouted to the others.

Alice and Emmett pounced on the vampires in front of them and ripped their heads off.

Edward turned, lit his lighter in one hand, and his other hand ready for the flame, and threw a flame at one of the vampires behind them.

Rosalie and Jasper followed, doing the same thing.

Kate followed suit with Alice and Emmett and started fighting the nearest vampire.

There was a blur of action. Edward, Jasper and Rosalie tried to find the vampires that weren't engaging in contact with Bella, Alice, Emmett or Kate so none of them would be blind-sided.

Aro was standing off to the side, watching what was happening, with a wicked grin on his face. He knew he had Bella's group outnumbered. Jasper and Rosalie were fighting off vampires as best as they could together. Edward was staying close to Bella. And Alice and Emmett were trying to stay in the same area as Jasper and Rosalie. Kate tried to keep an eye out for them as well.

As the other vampires were being killed, Aro seemed to be getting worried that his reinforcements would not be enough to keep him safe.

When there were only a handful of vampires left, Aro made his way around to where Bella was fighting. Edward was starting to turn around when he saw Aro stalk towards Bella from behind. He got a flame ready to throw at him.

"Bella, baby look ou-…" Edward started to shout to her when she was grabbed from behind by Aro, and he was also grabbed from behind by one of the vampires that had been holding back in a corner.

"ENOUGH!" Aro shouted, and all of the others turned around to see what was going on. "I will not have you killing my entire guard. And since you seem to have been caught off guard, I can only take advantage of this situation. Now, you will either give up the human witches, or you all die. I don't have a lot of patience, so I suggest you decide quickly my dear." Aro said, pulling Bella's head back and to the right to emphasize his point that he has no problem with ripping her apart.

**Bella, baby, just let them kill me. I'm not going to let them hurt you. Once they kill me, you do what you have to do to kill him and get Jasper and Rose back home to mom…** Edward thought to her.

**NO! I'm not doing it! I told her I would make sure you all got home. I'm not breaking that promise. Just throw the damn flame-** Bella thought, but was cut off by him.

**WHAT! NO! I'm not killing you, baby. They'll just kill me anyways. I… I can't do it Bell…** Edward thought with tears forming in his eyes. He closed his eyes to keep the tears from falling down his face.

Bella looked behind Edward and the vampire that had his teeth ready to tear into his throat. She saw Alice not far behind them with a panicked look on her face.

**Ali, when he throws the flame, whatever happens, get that vampire off of him. Please… I need your word that you'll get them out of here and back home if I don't make it out of here.** Bella thought to her with pleading eyes.

Alice just looked at her with teary eyes. She thought about Bella's request and knew she couldn't deny her 'sister' anything she asked of her.

**Of course.** Was all Alice could think to her.

**I love you guys. You've always been my family. Tell mom and dad I love them, and that I couldn't let anything happen to the rest of you.** Bella thought to Alice and Emmett.

**We love you, sorella.** Alice and Emmett thought to her.

**Edward, look at me.** Bella thought.

He opened his eyes and trained his eyes on hers.

**Throw it. Just do it. I'll try to get out of the way in time but you have to do it to get the rest of you out. Please… I can't not do everything I can to get you all out of here. Alice's going to get the vampire away from you so you'll be able to get away…** Bella thought.

He searched her face to see if there was any way to convince her otherwise. He couldn't see any.

**Baby, please… Don't make me do this. I can't lose you. I'm not going to live without you. Please?…** Edward thought, pleadingly.

Bella looked him dead in the eye, begging him.

**You have to be the one to get your family out of here. Don't fight me on this, please. You know I'm more stubborn than you are.** Bella thought to him.

Edward let out a shaky, teary laugh.

"Sta sprecando tempo, mia cara." Aro said, in Italian, into Bella's ear.

Bella's eyes stayed focused on Edward's with tears forming in her eyes, willing him to do as she asked.

Edward closed his eyes, and tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

**Ok.** Was all he thought to her. And opened his eyes to look at her again.

Bella took in a large breath and let a tear fall down her cheek.

**Focus on me. Feel when I'm going to throw it.** Edward thought.

Bella gave a slight nod of the head.

**Baby… **Edward thought to her.

"I love you." Bella whispered so he could hear her, with tears streaming down her face.

"I love you too." Edward said. Then they both breathed in, and like in slow motion, Edward threw the flame. Bella brought all of her strength she could find, and all of Edward's strength as well, and tried to cocoon herself in energy, and pull herself from Aro's arms. Edward was sensing what she was trying to do and tried to form the flame to go around her, and try to shield her from getting killed as well.

Bella, had, in fact, formed some sort of shield around her so that the flame would not hit her. She couldn't figure out how she did it, but at the time she didn't care. Aro was screaming behind her as she ducked down to the floor to get away from him

But as soon as the flame made contact, he felt teeth sink into his neck. It was followed up with a searing pain. The vampire had forced venom into Edward's system.

Alice saw the vampire sinking his teeth into Edward's neck and lunged for him. She ripped him away from Edward as he crumbled to the floor in pain. Alice automatically ripped the vampire's head and limbs off.

Bella turned and looked over to Edward, and saw him lying on the floor, writhing in pain.

"NO!" Bella shouted, running over to him and kneeling down beside him.

* * *

><p>Ok, I'm seriously hiding this time. I don't want a lynch mob after me. Sorry!<p>

Translations(as found on Bing translator):

Mia caro- my dear. Sorella – sister Sta sprecando tempo, mia cara.-Time is wasting, my dear.

Laters!


	18. Chapter 18

Ok, sorry, sorry, sorry for leaving y'all hanging there last time. But ya gotta do it sometimes. (I know I hate when it happens with stories I read too. Lol)

Thank you guys so so much for all the reviews. I've even had a few suggestions that may become part of the story. *smiles* I've just gotta get there first. Lol

Anyways, same rundown, Lola, my beta, is just awesome-sauce. Muuuaaahs

And SM owns Twilight. Wish I did though.

Otay, onward!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

"Edward, baby, look at me." Bella begged.

Edward tried to focus on her words and look at her. There was so much pain going through him that he could barely control any part of his body. He could feel fire in his fingertips, in his toes and in his heart.

Emmett, Kate, Jasper and Rosalie were left fighting the other vampires.

"B, the venom's already in his system. It's already attacking his heart. He must have pushed more than the normal amount through him. Can you smell it?" Alice asked, looking at Bella's horrified face.

She was seeing everything that was going on in his head and she couldn't stand to watch him suffer like this.

"Yeah, I can. Oh God, Edward, baby please stay with me… Damn it! I'm gonna just have to change him. I can feel it in him. He's not going to survive it if I don't do this." Bella said.

"Are you sure you can do this? You've never done it before." Alice asked with a hint of worry.

"I was going to do this anyways in a month. It's just been pushed up. Go help with the others while I get him ready for this." Bella pleaded with Alice.

"Ok, if you're sure. Get me if you need help. We'll try to make this fast." Alice said, standing up and rushing over to the others.

Bella focused back on Edward.

"Edward, I need you to listen to me. You're not gonna make it if we don't change you now. I know we were going to wait until the wedding but the venom is already going through your system. Your heart is already really weak. But I need you to understand what's going on. I'm going to have to take a lot of blood from you and then I'm going to have to put more venom into your system. Babe, you have to stay with me. Don't you dare go anywhere. We're supposed to be in this together for eternity. Just hold on to my voice and I'll try to make this as painless as possible. Once we get you somewhere that you can be more comfortable, I'll see if I can block some of it out for you. But I've got to start it now so you don't die on me before we can get you somewhere. Ok?" Bella pleaded with him. She made sure she looked him in the eye to make sure he was staying focused on her.

With all the pain he was in, he managed to nod his head slightly. It felt like he had flames coming out of every pore in his body. All of his organs were slowly feeling the burn settle into them. He was trying to stay focused on her words as she talked but ever so often, there was a spike in pain and he had to block out everything around him. Once he could focus back on Bella, he tried to talk.

"Bell… I love you baby… Never forget that." Edward said through gasps of pain.

"Don't you dare start with that! You're not going anywhere if I have anything to do with this. I want you to save your strength. You need to be able to push the pain away during this. I'm going to drain most of your blood so I want you to relax as much as you can. Try to keep your eyes on me. Ok? Don't think about the pain." Bella said, with tears still trailing down her face.

"Ok. Just… make it quick." Edward said, still gasping.

Rosalie ran over to the two of them and knelt down by Edward's head.

"Edward, oh my God. Please don't leave us. Bella, can't you do something? You can't let him die." Rosalie asked through tears.

"Rosalie, I'm going to have to go ahead and change him into a vampire. That other vampire that bit him injected venom into his system and it's already affecting him. So if I don't do this, he'll die. I don't have a choice. And I hope you and Jasper can forgive me for making this decision for him, but I can't lose him. I was going to change him anyways after the wedding, but I know he wanted more time with all of you while he was still human." Bella tried to explain to her.

Rosalie was breathing heavily with more tears falling down her face.

"I understand. Please just do what you have to. Don't let him die." Rosalie said frantically.

"Don't worry, sweetie. Just let me do what I need to do." Bella said. Then looked around to see the rest of the other vampires had been reduced to ashes.

"Ali, can you come here?" Bella asked. "Rosalie, I need you to go and stand with Jasper while I start this. I don't want you to be too close to me when I bite him."

Rosalie nodded, and stood up and walked back over to Jasper with her hand over her mouth to hold back the sobs. Jasper had started walking over to Bella, not really understanding fully yet why Bella is going to bite him since he didn't see everything. Rosalie reached Jasper and stopped him.

"It's the only way she can save him. Let her do it. We both knew this was going to happen later anyways." Rosalie says looking up to him. He nodded and held onto her while she let the tears flow.

Alice knelt down where Rosalie had been, and looked to Bella.

"I need you to hold his head up so I can see his eyes, and I really need you to hold your breath. That goes for the rest of you too." Bella said, looking around to Emmett and Kate as well.

"You got it." Alice said.

Alice took Edward's head and placed it in her lap where Edward could look at Bella.

Bella looked in his eyes again, and fought to keep her tears at bay.

"You stay focused on me. I'm going to get you through this." Bella said and grabbed his face, "I love you so much, mia tesoro."

"I love you." Edward said.

Bella leaned down and kissed his lips, and then pulled back and pulled up the sleeve of his shirt past his elbow. She looked back over to Emmett and Kate to make sure they're far enough away. They are about thirty feet away, standing together.

"Remember to hold your breathe. I will fight you off if you so much as make a move this way before I'm done." Bella said with an edge to her voice.

They nodded, not wanting to make her any more edgy.

Bella turned back to Alice, giving her a stern look, making sure she understands the same thing applied to her as well.

Alice nodded to her in understanding.

Bella nodded too, then looked up at Jasper and Rosalie. But she couldn't stand to see the look on Rosalie's face. Then she turned back and focused on Edward's arm. She took a deep breathe and leaned in, kissed his skin, and bared her teeth, sinking them into the skin above his elbow. She automatically felt the sweet taste of his blood flowing down her throat. She hated to admit how amazing it felt going down her throat, but she couldn't deny her nature in this instance. She also knew this was a necessary thing to do.

Edward could feel the sting of Bella's teeth when they punctured his skin, but it wasn't as strong as he remembered. Probably because of the other pain that was coursing through his body already. He could faintly feel the blood leaving his body. He could also feel that the venom that was in his system was starting to spread more rapidly now that there was less blood in his body. It was starting to feel more like knives stabbing from the inside, added to the volcanic fire he was feeling.

Alice had to close her eyes from seeing the blood while she was so close. She didn't want to take any chances.

Bella was almost done with taking the blood from Edward, but she could feel all of the pain and the weakness he was feeling. She pulled her teeth away from his arm and let out a sob at the look in his eyes.

"Don't," Edward said sternly, "We promised…" He continued through more gasps of pain.

"Babe, it's only going to get worse. I have to put more venom into your system, so the pain's only going to get worse. You'll lose consciousness soon and you won't be able to talk. I need you to take a deep breathe then I'm going to do it." Bella said through her tears.

Edward could only nod. The ability to talk or do anything was starting to slip from him. He knew once the next amount of venom was in his system, he would lose all focus and any hold he had on reality.

Bella closed her eyes again and remembered that she had no choice but to do this. Even though she thought she would have more time to prepare for this.

She leaned back down to his arm, making sure the venom in her teeth was present since she had been holding it at bay while she drained his blood. She bit down on his arm once again and forced her venom into his body. She knew that she didn't need to use as much venom as she had been told before.

As Edward felt the new venom flowing into his body, strangely, his body calmed down instead of rebelling. Normally a human's body would be fighting the venom and it would burn all through their body. But Edward wasn't feeling the burn this time. It was nothing like what he felt from the venom of the other vampire. The venom before was like the fiery pits of hell. This new venom was more like pressure. It was still somewhat painful, but it felt like someone was pushing on each organ in his body. It was more than bearable. He didn't know how this wasn't more painful but he would prefer this to the other searing pain. This, he could handle.

Bella was looking into his mind and couldn't understand what was going on. He had totally relaxed to the point that she thought there had been no venom in his system at all.

"What the hell?" She said out loud to herself.

She could smell the venom in his body, yet he was completely calm. She could also feel the changing in his body. There was no way that someone could be this calm and relaxed being changed into a vampire. It's unheard of. Something else had to be going on within him. But she couldn't pinpoint it. She wasn't sure if she had done something wrong, or if he had gone into a coma or what was happening to him. She DID know that he was slowly becoming a vampire, but nothing explained his reactions. He should have been thrashing around, screaming, and almost unable to handle the pain coursing through him. Most people would be giving into the pain and darkness that was around them when they have any sort of venom in them. But his entire body shifted from writhing and sweating, to almost serene. It was not at all normal.

"What's going on with him Bella? This isn't how he should be reacting to this… He should be seriously freaking out right now… Did… did something go wrong?" Alice asked with concern in her voice.

"I don't really know. He's definitely changing, but his brain and his body has totally relaxed… This is so far from how he was responding just a little while ago." Bella said.

"But… he's ok though, isn't he? I mean, he's not going to die, right?" Rosalie asked from her spot with Jasper.

"As far as I can tell, he's fine. But I'll still have to watch him closely. There's nothing to explain any of this right now. But let's get him to the hotel. I know you guys are exhausted and I don't want to stay here while he's going through this. The hotel shouldn't have too many other people in it since this is an off season for travel. We should be fine there. Em, Kate can you two go get the cars so we can get out of here, please?" Bella asked.

Emmett and Kate nodded and bolted out of the Great Room.

"Alice, I want you to ride with Kate, Jasper and Rosalie. I'll take Edward with me and Em. We're going back into Florence. When we get there, I want you to get the suites. I don't care how much it costs. Get the whole floor if you can. If we can keep him on the one floor with no one else around, he should be fine. Although, we may not have a problem if he's already this calm." Bella said.

"Ok. Do you want me to help you get him outside?" Alice asked.

"No, I've got him. Just get them out to the cars." Bella said, pointing over to Jasper and Rosalie.

Alice nodded and got up and went over to Jasper and Rosalie and motioned for them to follow her. They followed her out, then Bella looked down to Edward.

"Babe, if you can hear me, I'm taking you out to the car so we can get you somewhere more comfortable. I'll take you somewhere else in a couple of days for when you wake up. But I want your sister and brother to at least be somewhere while we're here. I'm not sure what's happening with your transformation, but we'll figure that all out later when you're awake. Don't worry, I can tell you're still changing, but I have no idea why you're so calm in there." Bella said, and then kissed his forehead. Then she picked him up and walked outside to where the cars were waiting.

They drove back towards Florence, to the hotel they had stayed in before and fell in love with.

Once Alice checked them in, Bella and Emmett helped bring Edward upstairs to the suite on the top floor. They decided both of them would be better to get him up there as to not attract attention if it was just Bella carrying him. Once in their suite, Bella laid Edward down on the bed.

Emmett went back to his own suite. Kate had her own suite, and Jasper and Rosalie had a suite together.

There was a knock on Bella and Edward's door while Bella was getting things put away in their room. She walked over and looked to see that it was Jasper and Rosalie.

"Hey you two." Bella said when she opened the door for them.

"Can we come in and talk to you? Is he out of it?" Jasper asked, pointing over to Edward.

"I'm not sure what's going on with him. But yes, please come in. I'm not leaving him alone." Bella said, leading them inside. Bella sat down on the bed, next to Edward, and Rosalie and Jasper sat down on the chairs that were situated near the bed.

"So, what can I do for you?" Bella asked

"We just wanted to check on him. I mean… is…is he going to make it? You said this wasn't normal for people who change to be so calm. Do you know what's going on inside his head?" Jasper asked, as he looked over at Edward.

Bella scrubbed her hand over her face. "He should be fine. I'm not totally sure what's going on. I can see the pain, and the fire happening, but there's this sereneness about him that's what's bothering me. For us to become like this, is a torturous process, once we're bitten. I wasn't joking when I said there's fire involved. It literally feels like there's a fire burning through every part of your body. It's different with each person as to how long it takes to transform, but it usually takes two to four days. We'll have to watch him and see how close he gets each hour. I'll always be here with him, but you guys can always come in and sit with him. Sometimes it's like a coma; the person knows what's going on around them, but can't do much about it. Rose, you can go sit with him in the bed. I know you're itching to." Bella said, then Rosalie bolted from her chair and climbed into the bed beside Edward. She grabbed his arm around both of hers and held it, with her cheek resting against his shoulder.

"She's been so worried since we left the castle. She couldn't sit still in the car ride here. She's scared that he won't make it; from the fact that you said this isn't normal behavior. It's really freaking her out." Jasper told Bella, quietly.

"Jasper, I need you to try to keep her calm for the next couple of days. I know you both want to check on him, but she needs to not get worked up. I can't deal with a panic attack, too. I don't have a problem with the two of you coming to see him, like I said; I just want her to stay positive. I have very little doubt that he won't make it. I'm keeping a watch in his mind, and nothing has changed. Everything seems to be going smoothly. It's just the fact that he's completely motionless, and not freaking out is the only thing that really bothers me. It could be a number of things, but I won't really know until I've had time to really feel around in his mind to figure it out." Bella said, still looking over at Rosalie and Edward.

"Should I take her and leave? You can do whatever you need to do then-" Jasper started, but Bella stopped him.

"No, Jasper. It's fine, really. We've got plenty of time before he even wakes up. Why don't you go over there and sit with them. I know you want to be with your family." Bella said, nodding over towards the bed.

Jasper stood, kissed Bella on the cheek, and walked over to where Rosalie and Edward were, and sat on the floor next to them, leaning against the bed.

"Ro, I know what you're thinking, and no. We're not going to lose him. Bella has every faith that he'll be fine. He just won't be the human Edward that we're used to." Jasper whispered to her.

"But he'll always be the Edward that you've always known. He won't be a completely different person. I promise you." Bella told them, quietly.

Rosalie looked over at her and smiled. "Thank you, Bella. For everything."

Bella leaned over and kissed her cheek, and let them sit there with Edward for a while.

When Rosalie and Jasper left later on, it was already evening, so Bella laid down beside Edward and just curled up into him.

She was able to finally focus on his mind, after a while. And from what she could tell, it was HER venom that made the difference in what was going on with him. She wasn't really sure why, though. Was it because of their connection? Was her venom different?

She had no answers. Bella wish she could talk to him, but his own mind wasn't fully focused.

Bella didn't realize what time it was, when there was a knock at their door. She looked out the window, and the sun was coming up.

She got up and walked to the door and peeked through the peep hole. She saw that it was Kate.

Bella opened the door and greeted her.

"Hey. What brings you by? I thought you were going to head out early this morning." Bella asked, inviting her in.

Kate seemed to hesitate a bit, but walked past her.

"I just wanted to come by and tell you that I'm sorry. I can't help but feel like it was my fault that all of this happened." Kate said, sheepishly.

Bella furrowed her brow. "Why would it be your fault, Kate? I don't understand."

"Well, it wasn't directly the cause, but Aro had been asking information on your family for a while. I came across him a little less than a year ago. He was working on hunting some family he thought would be a threat to vampires. And I had no idea that they were witches at the time, or that they were a family with kids. I had gotten away every now and then, wanting to stay away from whatever they were doing, but every time that one guard, Demetri, would show up and invite me back. Rather insistently. So I would end up going back. He kept on about that family of witches. I found out that he had located them, and was sending a couple of his guard that he trusted to get rid of them. I didn't go on that mission, but I heard what was going on, especially when they got back. They were talking about a lot of things. But they were most excited about killing a head witch… I guess that was their dad. But they couldn't find the rest of them. The guy would never give up where or how he hid them. Aro started becoming more interested in you and your family, a while back. He kept asking me what I knew about you and your family. I had no idea he was going to do any of this, I promise. And then one day, his excitement became paramount because he figured out something. He gathered over half of the guard and handed them all the stones, which he gave to us, as well. He told them not to leave anyone alive that was involved with the witches. That was about a week ago. So since then, he was waiting for them to come back and tell him that they were successful. Aro gave them two weeks to get it done… He obviously underestimated you all." Kate explained to Bella.

Bella took all of it in. She knew something else was going on with Aro when they were in the castle, but the fact that he was the one behind everything, made her want to vomit.

"Thank you for telling me, Kate. I really appreciate that you could come to me with this. I know we hadn't always been on the best of terms, but you were incredibly helpful to us yesterday. And I'm grateful that you were there for us. Thank you again for all of your help. Will you come to visit us?" Bella asked.

Kate looked surprised, but a huge grin broke out on her face. "I would love to. I hope everything turns out ok with him." Kate pointed towards the bed. "I've never seen a witch turned into a vampire before, so I don't know what will happen for him. But the fact that he's not dead means he should be ok, right?" Kate asked.

"I hope so." Bella whispered, looking at Edward again.

Kate left, promising that she would come to Washington soon.

There was another knock on Bella and Edward's door, not long after Kate left.

Bella opened the door to Emmett, Alice, Jasper and Rosalie.

"Hey, I know you don't want to leave him, but we wanted to know if you wanted to maybe have breakfast up here, or if you wanted us to bring you something up?" Alice asked her.

Bella thought for a moment. She knew they were trying to be supportive, and wanted to spend time with Edward and make sure everything was ok. She couldn't deny his siblings, and could see it on their faces that they wanted to be around him… and the worry was still there too.

Bella sighed and nodded her head into the room. "Get in here. I don't really want to be around anyone else right now anyways. So I'd rather just have us all together and we'll eat up here."

The others entered and Rosalie went straight to where Edward was, and sat with him. Jasper gave Bella a questioning look, wanting to know how things were going with Edward. Bella just smiled, letting him know all was well so far.

The five of them ordered room service and ate around the coffee table in the sitting area of Bella and Edward's room.

As they were eating, Rosalie asked, "So when are we going home?"

Bella wasn't sure what to really do yet, but knew they couldn't all stay in Italy until Edward was ready to go home.

"I'm not sure. Your mom will have a fit if you two come home and Edward doesn't. I don't really know if we should all just stay here, or send you four back. But I keep leaning towards just keeping us all here, and then when we get back, tell the school that we all went on a long Thanksgiving trip. Em, what do you and Ali think?" She asked them.

"I think that last one seems like our best bet. I know they don't want to face things back home, alone. And since its Thanksgiving weekend, it's more plausible. I think our parents would do the same thing. What about you two?" Emmett asked towards Rosalie and Jasper.

"I'd really rather stay here, with all of you. We said we were doing this together, we're going to do the whole thing together." Jasper said firmly.

Rosalie nodded beside him.

Bella nodded her acceptance. "Ok. Well if you guys want to, you can go see some of the sights, while we're waiting for Edward to come around. I'll stay with him…" Bella began, but was cut off by her cell phone ringing.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Bella, what happened?" She heard her father's voice on the other end of the phone.

* * *

><p>Translation (From Bing)<p>

Mia Tesoro- My darling

Alrighty, well that explains pretty much what the hell Aro was up to. What a jerk.

And we'll see what happens with Edward soon. I've got lots of thoughts on that.

Ok, so rec's for this week: 'The Geek's Guide to Parenthood' by tufano79 (I love the title by the way) it's the sequel to A Nerd Story of Love. I love, love, love, love this story. I've read religiously.

And 'The Bakery' by kitkat681 (It's not for the faint of heart, I will tell you that. You have to be able to handle topics like that.)

Laters!


	19. Chapter 19

HI! Ok I know it's been forever, but here's the next chapter. Real life has been kicking my ass lately, so I'm hoping you'll all be patient with me.

As you guys know, Lola(LaurieWhitlock) is my beta and is the bestest. Thank you so so much sorella.

And SM owns it, not I.

And a huge Happy Birthday to my Bella. I can't believe she's 5 already. God I feel old.

Anyways, on with the story!

* * *

><p>Chapter 19<p>

"_Bella, what happened?" She heard her father's voice on the other end of the line._

**Shit**. Bella thought to herself. She really didn't want to have to do this over the phone, but there was no way around it.

"Umm, dad… we kind of… well we got rid of Aro. He was the one who sent the hunters, and even sent them after Edward's family before. They killed his dad. But, uhhh… Edward was… bitten…" Bella trailed off.

"Damn it…" Carlisle muttered under his breathe. "Is he still…" He started to ask.

"He's being changed. The vampire that bit him put enough venom into his system to affect him. So I had to go ahead with it. I know it's not how we were going to do it, but it was going to happen soon anyways. I just hate that there wasn't a choice. Please don't tell Elizabeth yet. We're all going to come back in a few days, and we'll tell her then." Bella explained as calmly as she could.

Carlisle sighed. "How is he taking to it, so far?"

"…He's actually… very calm. He was in a lot of pain when he was first bitten, but when my venom got in his system, he basically calmed down… I'm not sure what it means." Bella told her father.

"Really? I've never heard of that happening…"He mused, "But you can tell he's still changing?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes, he is. I haven't been able to figure out what the actual cause is but we'll see when he wakes up. I can see into his mind, but I can't communicate with him. He's too unfocused right now. But I'm going to keep an eye on it over the next couple of days and maybe I'll be able to then." She told him, and directed it to the others in the room, so they could all know what went on while they were out.

"That's peculiar. You'll have to let us know what you find out when you get back. So you're thinking of coming back, in what, three days?" Carlisle inquired.

"Yeah, I think so. It gives him time to wake up, and get him at least used to blood, and hunt. He's going to have to hold his breath all the way home on the plane. There's no way around that situation. Elizabeth is already going to have a panic attack as it is, and I don't want her in more distress than she already is in. Dad, can you at least check on her for us? She hasn't been feeling great the past several months and she was going to go to the doctor Monday to see if they could figure out what's wrong… Will you try to oversee her case? I know you'll treat her well and her kids are worried about what's really going on with her. I want her to have the best care possible." Bella asked of her father.

"Yes, of course I will, dear. On both counts. She's family now and we'll do whatever we can for her. I just hope it's nothing serious. Just keep us updated on what's going on." Carlisle said with a sigh.

"I will, dad. I'll talk to you later. The others are here eating breakfast, then I think some are going to sightsee. Tell mom I said hi. Love you." Bella said, walking back to the others.

"I'll do that, sweetheart. I love you, too." Carlisle said, hanging up the phone.

As Bella hung up the phone, she could see the looks on the others' faces.

"Alright you guys, stop moping. I want you guys to get out of here and have some fun. Don't think too much about all of this. Rose, Jasper, we never know when we'll be back here in Italy, so soak up as much as you can. I don't want to see the looks on your faces that I see now." Bella said in a stern, but understanding voice.

"Don't worry, Bellsy. We'll get them out of here for a while." Emmett rubbed her back, and then went for seconds of food.

While Emmett and Alice took Jasper and Rosalie around Florence, Bella did some research for places to take Edward once he woke up.

She knew he wouldn't be able to handle the smell of blood right after he woke, but she would try to get him used to it, quickly, so they could go home.

She found out that there was a wooded area just outside of the city. It would be the perfect place for him to hunt and be introduced to the smell of human blood, little by little.

When the others came back later that evening, they all stayed in the room with Bella and Edward for a long time. Rosalie ended up falling asleep next to Edward; Jasper fell asleep on the other side of Rosalie. So Bella just left them there. She didn't want to disturb them.

"So have you thought about what you're going to tell Elizabeth when we get back?" Alice asked and the three of them sat out on the balcony of the room.

Alice was sitting on the floor and Emmett was sitting in a chair, while Bella sat on the stone balcony rail with her back against the wall.

Bella put her head down. "I don't really know. Any way we do it, she's going to be crushed. I hate doing this to her. But the alternative was having him die, and I was not letting that happen. She's going to want to kill me…" Bella said, still looking down.

"Bellsy, don't. There was no way for it to be stopped. That vampire was going to kill him anyways if Alice hadn't stopped him. You did what you had to, to save him. Any one of us would have done the same thing." Emmett soothed her.

"He's right, Bella. We all knew that there was a slight possibility that something could happen when we came here. We all knew that it would be more of a risk for the three of them." Alice pointed through the door at Edward, Jasper and Rosalie, "But there's only so much we can do when the numbers are against us. It would have been a miracle if none of us got out of there unscathed. You know this. Just try to explain it to her like we're talking now. Try to keep her rational." Alice interjected, looking up at Bella.

"Bella, we'll take things as they come. They were witches first, so they knew things could happen at anytime. And we took care of who has been after them and who killed their father. That should ease some of her tension, at least." Emmett explained.

Bella thought for a minute. She hadn't thought about that fact since they left the castle. Aro had been the one who had Edward Sr. killed.

Bella nodded. "You're right. I'm just so damn nervous. You guys heard how sick she's been. I don't want to add to it."

"You asked your dad to make sure she's got the best care. You know he would do whatever he can to help. We all would do whatever we can to help her. I've grown attached to Rosalie, myself. She's so damn strong and I love her fierceness and her no bullshit attitude. She's definitely someone who could keep my ass in line. And you both know that. But my point is that I sure as hell don't want anything to happen to their mother, anymore than you do." Emmett said, unsure of how the two of them would take his confession.

Bella stared at him, not sure if he was serious, but she remembered back to when they saved Rosalie and how worried Emmett was to know how she was doing and what was going on with her. It shouldn't really have surprised her all that much. But it did, in a way.

Bella nodded her head at him. "Just please be careful with her, Em. She's still extremely fragile, mentally. I don't want her to relapse into an all out freak out. She could pull back into herself if she's pushed for too much. I just want to make sure that you're going to take it slow with her. She's not one of your normal girls that you can just sleep with, and then shrug it off the next day. You have to be sure." She urged.

"I am sure. She's one of the only people that have been able to completely mesmerize me by just being _them_. I guess I can see some of the reason why you're so intense with Edward when I look at her. She's totally different. And I would never, _ever_ push her into something she's not ready for. I could never do that to her." Emmett said, strongly.

Bella was thrilled to hear that from him. She never really thought she'd see big teddy bear Emmett want to have an actual relationship with a woman.

She then turned and looked at Alice.

"I already know I'm going to marry Jasper." Alice said, bouncing where she sat.

Bella just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Look, we've been talking and handing out, like on the plane, back home when we were out, when we went sightseeing today… He's just… like the one person, that isn't one of you guys, that really gets me, and likes me the way I am. Not the human façade that we've made. He's really an amazing guy." Alice smiled dreamily.

Bella looked between the two of them in a bit of shock.

"Who the hell are you guys and what the fuck have you done with my best friends from the past three hundred years? Neither of you is a relationship type!" Bella wondered.

Then the three of them couldn't help but laugh, because Bella was spot on and they knew none of them ever thought it would happen.

When the laughing died down, Emmett asked, "Are you going to be ok if we go hunt?"

Bella smiled sadly. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll hunt with him when he's ready. I told you guys that I'm not leaving him. I want to be here the whole time in case something happens. I need to be able to act fast if it does."

Alice and Emmett both nodded, looking at each other, but got up and made their way to the door. "Alright, well we'll head out and get our hunt in. We'll be back in the morning." Alice kissed Bella's cheek.

The five of them kept watch over Edward over the next day and a half, in some way. Alice and Emmett went out to hunt, while the others slept. And later, Jasper and Rosalie went to some of the shops close by and got some souvenirs and did a little shopping. But someone was always with Bella and Edward.

When Emmett and Alice got back from their hunting trip, they began to play board games in the rooms with Jasper and Rosalie.

Emmett and Rosalie were talking over one game, and Alice and Jasper were over another.

"So how have you been holding up?" Emmett asked Rosalie.

Rosalie looked at him questioningly. "Well, I'm a little worried, but Bella doesn't seem to think anything will go wrong…" She started.

"No, I mean… after you're… attack. How are you doing after that?" Emmett asked, cautiously.

Realization crossed Rosalie's face then. She hadn't really even thought about it with all that's been going on with Edward. She also felt safe with the people she was with and knew none of them would let someone hurt her again.

"…I'm ok. You and the others make me feel safe and comfortable. I guess we'll see how I really am when we get home. It's easy to be distracted when you're away from where it happened." Rosalie mussed.

Emmett looked her in the eyes and said, "Rose, I'll never let anything happen to you ever again. If I have anything to do about it, you'll always be safe."

Rosalie just looked at him with awe. She knew she liked Emmett, but she also knew it would take time for her to be ready for any form of relationship. But she still reached over, and hugged him tightly. "Thank you." She whispered.

As Emmett was pulling back, he kissed her temple. She smiled back at him and they resumed their game.

Alice and Jasper had watched Emmett and Rosalie's interaction, and both knew Emmett would be good for Rosalie's recovery. Jasper was reluctant, but he knew Rosalie the best. So he knew that when Rosalie was ready to move on, she really was ready.

The next morning, Jasper and Rosalie were eating with Bella in her room. Emmett and Alice joined them again, but weren't eating.

When they were almost done eating, Bella could feel that Edward was responding to their voices. So when her head snapped around to him, the others weren't sure what was going on, but stopped what they were doing.

Bella rushed over to the bed and knelt down on top of the bed, beside him. The others followed her over to the bed to see what was going on. Rosalie was worried something bad had happened to him.

"What's happening? Is he ok?" Rosalie asked, frantically.

Bella looked through Edward's mind to see if she could see what prompted this new direction he was going in. she could see that his mind was getting stronger and more clear. She could tell he was on his way to waking up, and a smile spread across her face.

"Yeah, he should be fine. He's becoming more focused, so it shouldn't be too long now. We just have to wait and see. But I want you two out of here. I don't want to chance him being overly thirsty and attacking one of you. I don't think he would, consciously, but sometimes the urge for blood is too much if you haven't had enough practice resisting it, then it's easy to slip and go after a human. So I want you to go to your room, and as soon as we know he's awake, and fine, Alice will come let you know what's going on." Bella told them.

But Rosalie protested. "Bella, please. I don't want to leave him. I need to be able to see with my own eyes that he's ok…" But Bella took her by the shoulders.

"Rose, I can't risk you getting hurt. Didn't I promise you that I wouldn't let you get hurt again? That includes your brother. Can you please do what I said, and I promise we will let you know as soon as we have things situated?" She said, sternly, but understanding how much Rosalie wanted to stay.

Rosalie huffed but nodded her head.

"Ok, thank you. I'm not sure how long it will take, but keep your phones on, and keep an ear on the door." Bella said to both Rosalie and Jasper.

Jasper came over and grabbed Rosalie's hand and dragged her out of the room, to their own room.

Once they were gone, Bella turned back to Alice and Emmett.

"Is he really responding?" Alice asked.

Bella nodded. "Yeah. It shouldn't be long. He's getting stronger by the minute, now. It should be within the hour, if not sooner."

Bella sat beside Edward on the bed, pushing the hair out of his face. Alice and Emmett went out on the balcony to get some air and wait. They knew Bella wanted this time with Edward.

Edward had been hearing their voices the whole time and tried to take in all that was happening. It was difficult to keep up because of the pain and pressure. But he knew that he always heard Bella's voice in every conversation that was going on. She never left him. That made him overjoyed that she was by his side through the whole ordeal. Her presence was always felt.

He could feel Rosalie near him a lot, too. So he knew she had to be ok. Rosalie would talk to him, and hold onto him, he guessed from beside where he was laying.

He also knew that Jasper had to been fine, as well because he felt him nearby, too.

They all seemed to calm down the further along in the process he was. He heard Bella telling them that she was sure he would be ok and wake up.

He also knew Bella needed to hunt soon.

Things were becoming so clear and crisp to him. He could easily focus on things, unlike earlier when he could only catch parts of what was going on.

Edward started feeling himself come back to consciousness. It was slow at first, but as the fire started to dull somewhat, he noticed that it was refocusing itself to his heart. It was centralizing there, and it began to be more painful. But as soon as it reached its peak, it stopped… along with the last beats of his heart.

Bella looked down at him with worry and anticipation. Emmett and Alice heard it, and rushed into the room and stopped when they saw Bella's heavy breathing.

"Bellsy?" Emmett asked.

She didn't respond.

She slowly reached her hand out to touch Edward.

But before she could reach his arm, his hand shot up and stopped her, and she yelped.

Edward's eyes snapped open and looked over at her…still green…

"Edward?" She whispered, hesitantly.

As soon as the word was out of her mouth, Edward was hovering over her, crashing his lips to hers, kissing her passionately.

She responded with equal fervor, plunging her fingers into his hair, pulling him as close as she possibly could. Edward hitched her leg around his waist and was grinding into her center, until they heard a deep voice clear their throat behind them.

Edward let out a hiss, and grabbed her, pulling her across to the other side of the room.

"Edward, it's ok. It's just Em and Alice. They're not going to hurt us. You know that." Bella soothed him.

But Edward wasn't backing down until Emmett came out of his defensive stance.

Emmett straightened up and started making his way over towards Edward and Bella.

"Edward, calm down, man. We've-" Emmett started but was cut off by what happened next.

"Em, don't…" Bella said, holding her hand up to stop him, but in doing so, Emmett went flying backwards into the wall.

"Oh shit!" Bella and Alice both shrieked.

Emmett looked up and tried to figure out what the hell had happened.

"What the fuck, Edward?" Emmett almost yelled.

Edward looked shocked. "…I didn't do that, Em…"

Emmett's eyes darted back and forth between Edward and Bella, and Bella was darting hers back ad forth between Emmett and her own hand. Which was still in mid-air. She was beyond confused.

She turned to Edward with worry in her eyes.

"Please tell me you're joking." She said, her voice wavering, and her hand shaking.

* * *

><p>Rec for the week(not sure if I've put this one up, but it's worth putting up again): 'The Breakers' by les16 (it's really good)<p>

And 'Back Home' by theFlutteryButterfly. it's AWESOME.

I'll be back in probably 2 weeks, I'm hoping maybe sooner.

Laters!


	20. Chapter 20

Hi my peeps! I know its been a couple of weeks, but I promised I wouldn't take too long. I'm going to finish up this story in a few more chapters, BUT, if there are enough people that want to know what else is gonna happen after I cut it off with this one, I'll do a sequel. Because there really is a good bit more that I want to do with this, but I need to take a little break from it, and make sure I've got things lined up for more. And I'm also going to start work on a new story. So those of you that already have me on author alert, look out for a new one in the next month or so. (I've still got some thinking to do on that one) But those of you that haven't added me to the alert, and you want to read it, hit the little button. I know I've got a few of you that have read both of my current stories, and I love you for that. Makes me very happy that people actually read my stuff.

Anywho, you guys know the drill. Lola(LaurieWhitlock) is my beta and totally awesome sorella. Muahs

And SM own it, sadly I don't. *sigh*

Onward!

* * *

><p>Chapter 20<p>

Bella couldn't understand what just happened. She thought she knew, but it couldn't be possible. She wasn't the witch, Edward was… _was._ She had no clue if he still had his powers, if they had carried over into this new life. She was freaking out on the inside.

"Edward… that had to be you… there's… no way anyone else…" Bella tried to ask him, but it only came out in part sentences.

"Bella, I'm sure I didn't do that. At least I'm pretty sure… I was going for a physical defense, not something to do with my powers. I think it might have-" Edward started.

"Don't even finish that sentence. There is no fucking way that I did that, Edward. Those are your powers. How am I supposed to tap into that part of you?" Bella asked her mind all over the place.

"Bellsy, you tapped into his connection with Rose and Jasper. Why no this? It only happened when your hand came up." Emmett said as he made his way back over to Alice.

Edward and Bella just looked at each other, trying to figure out in their heads what was happening. There was no definitive answer coming to them. Bella was trying to think of something that could have happened, but the only thing that she came up with was a long shot, but wasn't sure.

"We have to talk to my dad when we get back home. Something is definitely happening and I really have no damn answers. This is so confusing." Bella muttered the last part to herself.

Edward reached over and grasped her hand, a lot quicker then he was used to. "That was cool." He said to himself. "Baby, this is obviously going to be all new to us. So we're going to have to learn together. But… can we hunt soon? My throat is burning and it's driving me crazy."

"OH! Of course! Let's get you fed, and when we get back, we'll get Rose and Jasper back here. They're anxious to see that you're ok. Ali, can you go tell them he's awake, and we're going to take him to hunt?" Bella turned to Alice.

"Yeah, sure. I'll stay here with them while you guys go. Just watch out for the humans downstairs. There are a couple dozen here, so he's going to have to hold his breath until you're out of the range of humans." Alice said as she made her way towards the door.

Edward still had a defensive stance around Bella, but it was calmer than before.

Bella tugged on his arm. "Hey, you know she's not going to hurt us. I know it takes time to get used to. It's your animal nature coming out. We'll go over all of it, I promise. But let's get you out of here and to the woods that aren't far away." Edward nodded to her. "You heard Alice. You're going to have to hold your breath. We don't have a huge need to breath. We can go for a very long time without breathing, but it's a habit. So it should be pretty easy to deal with. But I know it's going to be itching at you to inhale… Don't. You're to new to this that you will get crazed and kill someone. And I don't think either Emmett or I could stop you if you did. So I need you to resist any and all urges until we get out of here. Try to talk as little as you can…" Bella told him, and then thought about something.

**Can you hear me this way?** She thought to Edward.

**Yes. It sounds so much clearer now. Everything is clearer now that I'm a vampire. It's so different. But I really like it so far. Except the burning. It's manageable though…**Edward thought back to her.

"Really? It's not overwhelming to the point that you're going to slaughter someone to get blood?" Bella asked him. She was somewhat teasing, but really wanted to know.

Edward smirked at her. "Yes, smartass. But I still haven't been around humans… That sort of terrifies me." He got a worried look in his eyes.

"Don't worry. We'll help you. Now let's get out of here. Just remember what I told you." She said, then kissed his cheek quickly.

She motioned for Emmett to go out first, so he could get a pathway, of sorts, to get out of the hotel.

Bella looked back at Edward. "You ready?"

He nodded slightly. "I think so."

"Just stay close to me, and don't move too fast. You saw how that was a minute ago. Just stay cautious of what you're doing." She advised him.

She looked down the hall and saw that Emmett was waiting for them. Bella and Edward made their way down the hall to him.

"We're going to try to go down the side of the building. It's not that far down, but we also won't have to pass any humans too closely. And we can get out quicker that way." Emmett told them quietly.

They maneuvered their way out the high window, and made their way carefully down the side of the building, with little difficulty. With it being dark out, no one would see them, so they were safe.

Once they were on the ground, Edward looked back up the building with awe.

"Wow. I can't believe what I've been missing, being a human." He lightly joked with Bella and Emmett.

Bella smiled at him, while Emmett just snickered.

"Yeah, man. There's so much to this life that you wouldn't have thought you would miss by being human. But then we also hear from our parents and others like us that they miss a lot about being human. It's a trade off. Let's get out of here. I'm thirsty again. That damn fox I caught didn't do shit for me." Emmett said sadly. Then Bella let out a snort from beside Edward. "Hey, it was all I could catch when we hunted last time." Bella was full out laughing now, and Edward joined in a little. "You guys suck. I need a damn bear. If you two are done picking at my lack of findings, I'm thirsty. Move it or lose it you two." Emmett grumbled.

He turned and took off towards the wooded area, leaving Edward and Bella standing there.

"Love you, Em!" Bella called after him.

"Love you too, B! Now come on!" He called back.

Bella wrapped her arms around one of Edward's and kissed it. "You ready for some speed?" She asked him with a smile.

He smiled back down at her. **You have no idea how much I've wanted to do this with you.** He kissed her temple and took off after Emmett.

Bella smiled to herself, and then followed them. She was so happy that he was ok and there didn't seem to be any major side effects… well, aside from the fact that she was using his witch powers. That would be interesting to figure out.

They made their way through the woods, a safe distance away from humans.

"You can breathe now, babe." She said to Edward, then turned to Emmett. "Let's stop right over that ridge, over there." She said, pointing to their right.

Edward breathed in and felt the blast of fresh air. It filled his lungs and made him feel invigorated. He smiled to himself as they crested the ridge.

Bella turned to see him smiling and asked, "What's got you smiling like that?"

He breathed in deep. "Just being able to smell this deeply is refreshing. Just one more thing to add to the list of cool shit vampires get to feel." He smiled over at her.

Bella just smiled and shook her head. "You'll have no trouble adapting. That's for sure."

"Alright lovebirds, let's get this show on the road. This is the fun part, Eddie. You get to let the animal out, now." Emmett said, with a wicked smile on his face.

Bella extended her hand to Edward and he took it, so they could have a physical connection.

Bella started to explain to Edward the hunting process. How to use all of his senses to pinpoint where his prey was at. And how his animalistic side will take over when he catches the scent of blood, and he goes after it.

"Do you have a handle on all of this?" Bella asked him after she finished.

"I think so. It's all there in my mind. Does it always seem like your brain is a sponge?" Edward asked.

Bella and Emmett both laughed. "Yeah, it does. Your mind is like one huge warehouse space that expands with information. You never have to worry about forgetting something." Emmett smiled.

"Sweet." Edward whispered.

"Ok, let's do this." Bella said as she made her way to get into a position to get ample air flow, as to get better range of where the best prey would be.

Edward followed her, understanding what it was she was doing. It made sense to him.

Once they're in position, Edward took a deep breath in. He automatically smelled blood, and it smells delicious. He wasn't sure how he would react to the smell of blood before, but now, he was almost bouncing with anticipation. He felt like his mouth was watering.

"Ok, pop quiz. Which way and how far?" Bella asked, turning to him.

Edward sniffed the air again and was pretty sure of where the animal was. "South-east, maybe two hundred yards… What _is_ that?"

Bella smelled the air again, herself. She could tell what most all animals smelled like. "That smells like mountain lion. You'll learn as you go what each animal smells like and be able to differentiate which is which, and pinpoint exactly what it is when you're hunting. You'll have no problem catching onto it."

Edward nodded. He was ready for this. He had wanted to see Bella hunt for the longest time, but never looked into her memories to see it. He wanted to respect her wishes. But he felt like this was a simple task that he was about to do. Like second nature.

"It is second nature for us. Don't try to over think it… It's time, baby." Bella said, looking at him with love and support.

He looked in the direction of where he smelled the mountain lion, and felt like he was about to burst.

**Let it take over and go after it.** Bella thought to him.

He didn't even look back at her, and took off into the trees, silently. He was focused, driven, and dangerously quiet as he stalked his prey. Once the mountain lion was in his sights, Edward didn't hesitate. He pounced, sinking his teeth into its neck, and his arms around its body, killing it instantly.

He crouched over the lion, slurping the blood into his mouth and down his throat. It was a delicious torture, but also the most wonderful relief going down.

Bella was sitting in the tree, not far away from where Edward was drinking, watching him with great pride. She couldn't help herself. She was so happy that it didn't take much for him to get the hang of the hunt. And there was a lot of lust, watching him as his animalistic nature came out. He looked like a mountain lion, himself. Lithe, swift, fluid, fast. He was the perfect predator.

His head snapped up in her direction when he heard her think that. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing, but the look on her face reassured him that it was.

He made his way over the where she was and jumped in the tree, in front of her. She couldn't stop herself as she lunged at him, crushing her lips to his. He held her to him tightly and felt her tongue enter his mouth, letting out the most delicious moan.

Bella couldn't stop her actions as she climbed up his body to wrap hers around his.

"God, you have no idea how fucking sexy that was. I want you so badly right now…" Bella said around his lips.

"Aww, Bellsy, not while I'm here!" Emmett whined through the trees.

Edward growled slightly, knowing that they couldn't do this just yet. But he vowed that they would, soon.

Bella was so startled that she swing around and a tree blew up not far from Emmett.

Edward grabbed her arm and pulled it back to her.

"Damn it! Fuck you Em! I've really gotta stop doing that. Gah, FINE! We'll go again. Are you happy now?" Bella said back to him as he mad his way to where they were, with his eyes closed, and cupping his junk. "You moron. It's not like you haven't seen me naked before."

Edward growled at that. He didn't want anyone seeing her naked, but him.

"Easy Eddie. Nothing _like_ that… per se…"

"Em! Not helping." Bella chided him.

Edward narrowed his eyes at Emmett, and then turned to bury his face in her neck.

"Alright, alright. Let's get going again. We'll hunt this time, too. Edward, you seem to be doing just fine with it, so keep going." Emmett said as he turned to make his own way to hunt.

"Thanks" Edward said to Emmett's retreating form.

"Welcome!"

"Ok, go again. Then we'll head back to the hotel. Your sister and brother are pretty anxious to see you."

Edward smiled at that. Then they both turned to find their next prey.

Once they were finished with their hunt, they started making their way back towards civilization.

Bella wanted to try something before they were right back in the middle of all the humans.

"Bellsy, do you think that's such a good idea? Especially when he just woke up?" Emmett asked cautiously.

Bella sighed. "I want him to at least have an idea of what he's working against. It has to be done sooner or later. And I don't want to risk him taking a breath on the plane and gong into a rampage. So he needs to know what it's like."

"What? Human blood? Bella, I'm not sure… do you really think I should?" Edward asked with trepidation.

"I know you can control it. You wouldn't hurt your family, would you?" Bella asked, and he shook his head. "Well if you're going to be around them too, we need to let you have some idea of what it's like to smell and resist. So we need to stop in a few seconds and do a gradual process of introducing you to it. I will tell you that your family's blood is very nice smelling, but it may be too much for you, being so soon after you wake up. You need to put a lid on those instincts to go after blood around humans."

"If you say so, baby." He said as they slowed down.

They were at the edge of the trees, looking towards the city. The three of them then proceeded to get Edward close to the smell of human, let him get a slight whiff of it, then pull him back to the safety of clear air.

The first time that they did it, Edward almost flew into the town, towards the sweet scent of humans. He had to lock all of his muscles down in order to stay in control of himself. But he was able to hold it off. It took about eleven tries until he wasn't fighting Bella and Emmett to take off through the city, killing anyone he could get his hands on.

He was still jumpy about the smell, but was starting to get used to the feeling of the intense burn.

The last time that they had pulled back to the woods, Edward sat down on a rock and thought about all of what he had just done. Reasoning how to resist, and thinking of any tricks he might be able to use.

After he had sat there for a while, Bella came over and knelt down in front of him.

"Babe, it's ok that you don't have a perfect handle on this yet. It'll take time to fully click into your whole body. I mean, this life is never completely easy. We still have times when we lose our cool around human blood. But we've had the practice. You will too. We'll be right beside you until you're sure you'll be able to do it on your own. You know you have me. I'll be able to tell if you're about to give in, or if you need to get away from it. We'll get you through it, I promise." She told him, then leaned up and kissed him. "Are you ready to try to go back? I know there are two very worried people waiting for you."

Edward smiled and stood up, grabbing her hand and made their way back into town. He held his breath once they were in range of the humans, and he held it until they had safely scaled the building again, and were back in Edward and Bella's room.

**Ali, we're back. Can you bring them in here?** Bella thought to Alice in Jasper and Rosalie's room.

**Great! Yeah, we'll be there in a few.** Alice thought back.

"Ok, I want you to do what you practiced earlier. Be cautious of your strength and your breaths. They're actually going to be closer than you were used to then, so you have to try to control it…" Bella started but there wasn't much time to go on, because Rosalie burst through the door and leaped into Edward's arms.

Edward's muscled locked down and he didn't have time to halt the small amount of air that hit him before he stopped breathing.

"Oh shit!"

* * *

><p>I know, you guys wanna hit me right now, don't ya? Sorry. My thought process and setup for chapters is to blame here. Gotta make sure I've got things in where they need to be. (and whoever's mind just went in the gutter, *high five*. Lol just kidding)<p>

Sooo, let's see what I can rec this week… OH! 'Leave Out All The Rest' by Daba91 (there's only about 7 chapters right now, but I can tell it's gonna be awesome.)

So until I see you guys in two weeks(hopefully),

Laters!


	21. Chapter 21

Alright you guys. I'm so sorry that this is late, but I've had a crazy couple of weeks. I wasn't even home this weekend so there was no way for me to work on this. And I've had to take this chapter apart, twice. And I don't even know if it's any good. I think it is. I've also started working on my new story, getting stuff outlined, a prologue and such going.

So, you guys know already that Lola is my beta, and sorella. Love, muahs.

And SM owns it, I sadly don't. damn it.

On with the story.

* * *

><p>Chapter 21<p>

"Oh shit!" Bella yelled as she saw Edward go rigid.

Emmett and Alice went still, frozen.

"Edward, don't move!" Bella urged, panicked.

Edward looked around at everyone and saw that Emmett and Alice weren't moving.

She then ran over to him and grabbed on to his arms. Emmett, then unfroze, and was right behind her, jumping into action.

"Rosie! Rosie, come on. He's too feral right now." Emmett ran to her and started pulling her away from Edward.

Rosalie reluctantly let go of him and when she realized what she had done, she threw her hands over her mouth in shock. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry, Edward!" She glanced at Bella, then Emmett, then back to Edward, then finally Bella. "Is he ok?" She asked, seeing him so stern, stiff, and not breathing.

"He will be. Just don't make too many sudden movements for a while. He's still adjusting. And don't get too close too him. He could lose his control easily and hurt one of you. We're still working on desensitizing him to the smell of human blood." Bella explained to them.

"Oh god…" Rose burrowed her face in her hands.

"Hey, it's ok. Bella's got him. He was just caught off guard. It's new for him, and for you two. Give it some time." Emmett said soothingly to Rosalie, as he pulled her to him, hugging her.

While all of the others were talking, Edward was trying to focus, keeping his eyes shut tight. Trying not to hone in on the smell of blood coming off of his sister and brother. He had to remember who they were to him.

**Bella, tell Emmett and Alice to be ready in case I can't control myself. I'm going to try to breathe and see… if I can cope.** Edward thought to her.

"Ok." She answered. "Em, Ali, be ready for him in case he can't do it. He's going to try." Bella told them, letting Rosalie ad Jasper know, too.

They both nodded and Emmett moved Rosalie behind him, then Alice went to stand in front of Jasper.

Edward slowly took in a deep breath, and then paused. The burn in his throat was amplified from the exercise they had done earlier. There was a sweet scent in the air, but also a tangy one as well. It felt like there was adrenaline running through his veins. The scents were hard to resist, and took all his strength to stop himself. He did this several times, trying to desensitize himself from the yearn he had to go after it. It was one of the hardest things he'd ever done.

He finally was able to breathe and not have to be held back. It took time, but he knew it would. It didn't mean that he liked doing it.

"You did it again, you know?" Edward said to Bella.

Bella opened her mouth to say otherwise, but she then realized that she in fact had.

"Damn it…" She trailed off.

"I know… we have to work on it. We will, don't worry." He said to her, repeating her words back to her. He took in another deep breath, and winced at the pain. "Bells, this shit sucks. How long does it usually take to resist it?" Edward asked, still trying to not let the air down his throat yet. That would have been a harder to deal with. But he would get to it soon.

Bella hugged his arm. "I know. But you're doing extremely well for a newborn. You're able to resist so much easier than most I've seen. You'll be able to handle it in no time. You've just got to have a lot of practice with it. The more we expose you to humans, the better you'll be able to resist. Don't worry so much."

"I can't help it. I don't want to kill my brother or sister. What about my mother? Does she know yet? What's gonna happen-" Edward started, almost panicked, but Bella cut him off.

"Edward, stop. She doesn't know yet. We were going to wait until we were sure and knew what our plans were. I told my parents that we would tentatively be back in a few days. But that all depends on you. If we can get you where you'll be able to fly on a plane, then we can leave. But I've been thinking about that too. If we can find a flight with the fewest people on it, that would be a great start. But if we can tell them that you're sick, and can't be too close to other people, so you don't catch any germs they might be carrying, then maybe we could get you in a secluded part of the plane. The further away you are from people, the better chance you have."

"I like that plan. Do you want me to call and get things setup?" Alice chimed in.

Bella looked up at Edward to see what he thought. "So do you think you're ready to go home?"

Edward thought for a moment. He didn't want to keep his family away from home any longer. He had to tell his mother about what happened to him and figure out how they were going to keep his life, somewhat like it was before. Going to school, being out in public, doing things like he used to. He wanted to get to work on getting that all back. He wanted normal.

"Yeah. But… maybe tomorrow night? I want a little more practice. And maybe a later night flight might be better for us." Edward said to her.

She nodded then looked over at Alice, who also nodded, then ran out of the room to her own.

"We'll stay in the room, but I want to let you three have a few minutes to yourself. Are you going to be okay?" Bella looked up at Edward, with worry in her eyes.

"I think so… just stay close for a few minutes." Bella nodded, and motioned for Emmett to go out to the balcony.

Bella stayed just inside the door to the balcony so she could keep an eye on things.

Rosalie and Jasper sat on the bed, while Edward stood by the wall, at a safe distance, but still not too far away.

"So, how are you, now? What's it like?" Rosalie asked with enthusiasm.

"It's… different. But not, in some ways. If that makes sense. There are so many things that you miss as a human that you finally do as a vampire. Things are so much sharper, clearer, you can smell more, and you can sense so many things around you. Your mind works at miles a minute. It's just so much more heightened, in all aspects, than when you're a human. I miss being a human in some ways. But being a vampire, and the fact that Bella won't have to hold back as much with me, makes it so worth it." He said, then without even having to look over at her, "Don't even give me that look, Bella. I know you always had to slow down or pull back sometimes." He finally looked over at her. "You weren't as good at disguising it as you thought. I could always tell."

Bella dropped her head. "Sorry. I didn't think it was that obvious."

"It wasn't obvious, but I know you too well." Edward said to her, with a slight smile.

Bella smiled back at him.

"So, is it easier that way?" Rosalie asked, gesturing to Edward, himself.

"It's not all peaches and cream. You have to resist so much. The blood is obvious, but you don't realize your own strength, or speed. I guess I'll find out more when we get more practice in." Edward said, looking over at Bella, and she nodded.

They continued to talk this way for a long time. It was finally time for Rosalie and Jasper to go eat, Emmett and Alice were going to join them, so they left and Edward finally breathed in deep.

"Okay?" Bella asked from behind him.

"Yeah. It's just going to be a challenge. Did you have any difficulties when you became a full vampire?" Edward asked as they sat out on the balcony.

Bella sat on his lap. "Not to the extent that you are. I know it's not very helpful to you, but there were times that things were hard for me. The smell of human blood was strongly appealing, but once my dad taught me how to hunt, it was easier to resist. I think out of the three of us, Emmett had the hardest time resisting human blood. He… fell off the wagon, so to speak. But he found out quickly what he did, and vowed he would never take a life again. He practiced and we all fought the urge for human blood. And we each vowed we would help the other. We had always been taught to only take human blood when there was no other option. And with us being able to eat food, we were always easier to quell that urge. There were the odd times that we were away from civilization for too long and the first thing we came across were humans… those were the only times we ever had to resort to it. That was the hardest part we ever really faced. We still have so much to find out about your change and everything that happened with it… Did you notice that your body was, for lack of a better word, insanely calm?" Bella asked, looking up at him.

Edward thought back to when he was first bitten. It was difficult at first to see it all clearly, but he finally remembered. "Well, when that vampire first bit me, it was incredibly painful. Like fires of hell, painful.

"And then, I remember you telling me that you were going to bite me because that was the only option to save me. When I felt your venom… it was totally different. Whatever it was, it made me feel like I wasn't burning the way I was before. I guess you could say it was a slow burn. Basically, the intensity of it was gone, but it was still there. I could feel the fire, but it was dulled. There was a small part that felt like it was going away, but I guess I just got used to it. That doesn't mean it didn't still hurt like hell. I could hear all of you. Now that I think about it, something that Emmett said earlier, things in my mind were making room for everything. Expanding, so that more information could go there. I think that was the difference. That and it was your venom that was going through me.

"Later when it was coming to an end, I felt everything speed up; the fire, the pain, my heart… then it all just stopped after that. Things started to come into focus around me. Then I woke up and saw you." He said thoughtfully, and then looked at her lovingly.

She grabbed his face, and looked in his eyes. "I'm so sorry I had to do it this way. But I couldn't let you die." Then she kissed him with passion.

**I don't blame you. I know you had to.** He thought to her, then lost himself in the kiss.

Edward picked her upand carried her into their room, to the bed. He laid her down, kissing deeply, and shredding both of their clothes. There was not going to be anything slow about this. Edward had wanted her so badly since he woke up, and he was tired of waiting to be with her. He wanted to be completely consumed by her.

Edward kissed his way down to her nipple, and sucked one into his mouth, making her hiss in delight.

He quickly made his way back up to her mouth and kissed her deeply. With their clothes gone, he pushed into her all the way, both of them groaning.

Bella felt something snap in her, then pushed Edward up and had him pinned to the other wall across from the bed. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist, her hands in his hair, and sunk back down on him. She used the wall as leverage and moved fast and rough with him.

She pushed off the wall and then hit another wall, next. They moved around the room so much, they weren't really sure where they landed each time, but they heard breaking and tearing behind them.

They were each so close to their release that they were both frantic. Moving faster and harder with the other. Finally, they both couldn't take it anymore, and let out roars of pleasure.

Once their breathing was even, and they could focus again, they surveyed the damage to the room… and there was a lot.

The bed was broken in half; the headboard wasn't even with the bed anymore. There were holes in the walls, one of the chairs from the sitting area was shredded, the dresser was knocked over, and there were pieces of wood all over the room. They found that the pieces of wood used to be the end tables, from the bedroom and sitting area.

"We're going to have to give the people downstairs a huuuggge tip." Bella said, still surveying the destruction.

"You got that right… but it was so worth it." Edward said, smiling down at her with a mischievous look on his face.

Later on, once they had finally gotten their fill of each other, Bella went to check in on everyone else.

She knocked on Alice and Emmett's door, and when it opened, Emmett had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Oh god, please no…" Bella trailed off, burying her face in her hands.

"Oh yes, my dear. We heard it all. You two are horny little fuckers, aren't you?" Emmett laughed, and Bella could hear Alice further in the room laughing as well.

"You two suck. You know that, right?" Bella huffed and pushed past Emmett.

"Aww come on, Bellsy. It's not everyday that out little girl gets freaky like that." Emmett smirked.

"You do realize I'm older than both of you?" Bella asked, rhetorically. Emmett and Alice both just smiled at her. "Aw, both of you can fuck off. This isn't why I came over here. I wanted to see if everything is set to go home. And I was gonna go and check on Rose and Jasper, while I'm at it. But I guess I'm not getting out of this one. So let me have it." Bella said, motioning for them to continue.

"It's ok, B. We're just messing with you. We've been waiting all this time for you to find _someone_ to at least share that part of yourself with. And the fact that you two are this great love story makes it special. We're happy for you, honey." Alice said, walking up to her and hugging her.

"I love you guys. So what's happening?" Bella asked.

"We've got the flight for later tonight. I talked to the airline and told them that we've got a sick man traveling with us. He was here for treatment for a rare disease and needs to be as far away from large amounts of people. To keep germ carriers at a minimum. That's why we're flying at night. So the lady said she had a flight that was not even close to half full. So we can get him on the back of the plane, and no one will bother him. We're good to go. As long as he's sure he can do it. We'll be there to help." Alice explained.

Bella nodded. "That's great. Thanks. Let's get everything together, and make sure Rose and Jasper are ready. We'll leave whenever things are settled and there aren't that many people around."

They both nodded and got to work getting everything ready.

Bella walked down to Rosalie and Jasper's room and knocked. Rosalie opened the door cautiously.

"Are you guys ok?" Rosalie asked.

"Why wouldn't we be… oh, never mind. I guess you kinda heard what happened." Bella said, sheepishly.

Bella walked into the room while Rosalie closed the door.

Well we heard a lot of commotion, but didn't know what was going on. So we were a little worried." Rosalie said.

"Oh, sweetie, trust me, don't worry. We… kind of built up a little too much tension… and we didn't even realize what we were doing to our surroundings. But we're perfectly fine." She said, glad she couldn't blush.

"Oh… ooohhhh, ok. Just as long as no one got hurt." Rosalie said, biting her lip.

"No, no one got hurt. Although I'm going to have a ginormous bill for this place. Anyways, we're leaving a little later. We need to get everything packed up. I'm going to send you and Jasper with Alice, ahead of us. And Emmett is going to go with Edward and me, in case we both need to restrain him. Emmett will also help with the cover we're going with, that Edward is very sick and needs to be helped, and kept away from people. But you two will still be with us. Everything should be fine. I just hope I don't blow up the plane… I'm freaking out about that." Bella sighed to herself.

Rosalie put a hand on her arm. "The best way I've learned to control it, is to stay calm. I know it's not always easy to do, but the way to get it under control, is to use them when you're calm. I don't know why you're able to use our powers, but like everything else that happens with the two of you, it had to be for a reason. My suggestion is to go out before we leave, and get in some practice with the powers. You'll be able to have a better grasp on them." Rosalie said to her.

Bella nodded. "You're right. Ok, make sure you have everything ready so we can leave. I'll be back soon. Thanks." She hugged Rosalie and then went out the door back to her room.

When she told Edward what she wanted to go work on, he was right by her side as they made their way out to the woods.

They were in, almost, a clearing. There were trees all around, and large rocks, boulders, and a few fallen trees.

"So, you think this will work?" Bella asked.

"It makes perfect sense. We all had problems with our powers at first. And our mom said to try using them when we're in a calm environment. This seems to be as good of a place as any. Just focus on those powers, and pick one to work with." Edward said from his spot on a rock.

Bella took a deep breath and focused her mind on the powers she had never used before the previous day. They were foreign to her. So she had to take the crash course in understanding them.

"I'm going to do something, and I want you to use a power on whatever it is." Edward said to her, holding something behind his back.

Bella wasn't sure what he was going to do because he was blocking her, so all she could do was nod.

Edward tossed a large rock from behind him, in the air, that was going in her general direction. Bella turned and on a reflex, she froze the boulder in mid-air.

"Woah… ok, that works. Can it be that easy?" Bella asked.

"Not usually, but every situation is different. You'll get the hang of it soon. You're already so good at everything else." Edward smirked at her.

Bella huffed and used one of the powers and sent the boulder flying towards Edward. He dodged it easily, and then looked back at her.

"Hey! That wasn't very nice." Edward feigned hurt and pouted.

"That's what you get for messing with my training. Now let me concentrate." Bella said, then went back to work.

A couple of hours later, Bella had finally gotten a good handle on the powers. She and Edward were sitting on the ridge that looked over Florence.

"So do you think you're ready for this next part? There will be a lot more people around and they all smell different. One could smell so much better than the rest. You're going to have to be on your toes the entire time." Bella said into the air.

"I think so. I just want to get it over with. I'd rather be safe at home with the rest of your family, and mine, than thousands of miles away, where we're on our own with this." Edward said, thoughtfully.

Bella took his hand in hers. "I know what you mean. Come on, let's go home, baby." She jumped up and pulled him up with her, they both took off towards the hotel so they could finally go home… and break the news to Edward's mother.

* * *

><p>Hope you guys enjoyed. Gonna get to work on the next one. Hopefully there won't be too long of a wait. Don't hold your breath though.<p>

Rec for the week: 'Subject" Edward Cullen, aka The Womanizer' by Erica twilight (it's a complete story, but really good! Check it out)


	22. Chapter 22

HEEEYY YOOUU GUUUUUYYYYSSSS! Sorry, I'm a little wired right now. This is what happens when I have no sleep and have to deal with crazy people on a daily basis. So. I've got some more for you guys to read. I'm hoping that it's good.

My beta is still my Lola (Laurie)

And SM own Twilight. Not me. *big sad face*

On with the story.

* * *

><p>Chapter 22<p>

"Are you ready for this?" Bella asked Edward, while they sat in the back of the rental car, with Emmett in the front seat.

Edward looked towards the airport and gulped. He had been working on holding his breath since earlier in the day. It was easier to do now, but he was still worried that he would inhale at some point, and end up killing everyone around him.

"Bells… what if something goes wrong… Are you sure you guys will be able to stop me?" Edward asked, worriedly.

Bella took his face in her hands. "You'll do fine. But I want you to ingrain in your mind that if I have to restrain you, you need to not fight back. I don't want to have to use Emmett for that, but I will if I have to. Please stay focused on me. I'll help you through this as best as I can. Just don't let yourself wander. I'm right there with you." Bella whispered.

Edward kissed her lips, and took a deep breath, letting the slight burn run through him. "I think I'm ready."

Bella nodded. "Just take a deep breath and hold it. It's a long flight, but we usually don't have to breathe. It's just a habit. We need to get through the terminal, on the plane, and get through the airport in Seattle. Then you can breathe. Em will be on one side of you, I'll be on the other."

Alright you two, let's get this done, so we can get home. It won't be quite as hard once we're there." Emmett said, as he stepped out of the car.

When Emmett closed the door, Edward took another deep breath and held it. Feeling the burn stronger, but able to resist it, although difficult.

"See, you're already doing so, so well. Let's go, baby." Bella said, squeezing his hand.

Edward closed his eyes for a moment, focusing, and then opened them again. Ready to face this struggle.

They stepped out of the car cautiously; looking around to make sure no one was terribly close. They would do whatever they could to avoid contact and being in a general area of large groups of people.

The three of them made their way to check in for their flight, Edward having to hold on to the counter to control himself. Bella held onto his hand the whole time.

When they walked away, towards the security area, Bella whispered, "You're doing great. Keep it up. They're gonna do pat-downs at the security check, just try not to move. You'll be less likely to react."

Edward nodded again.

As they came up to the metal detectors and scanners, Emmett stood behind Edward, while Bella stood in front of him.

Bella went first, while their bodies would make the machines beep slightly, she knew they still had to abide by the rules.

The slight increase in the machine didn't really alarm the workers, but they still had to go through all of the screenings.

Edward went next, and tensed slightly when the machine beeped, but went through.

The pat-down was what they were all worried about.

Bella stood with one of the workers, being pat-down, Edward stood with another, and Emmett was coming through the metal detector.

Bella was facing Edward to keep an eye on him. They were both in positions for the pat-down, and the female worker started her task on Edward. Her hands made contact with him and he went rigid.

Bella's eyes flashed to his. **Don't do it Edward.** She thought to him.

Edward closed his eyes for a moment, the locked his muscles in place.

**God, he looks so sexy. I hope he's not with that little bitch over there. Maybe he'd be up for a little quickie in the bathrooms…** Edward heard someone's thoughts in his head, which sounded like the worker that was patting him down.

His eyes widened. **Oh shit. Not good.**

**Edward?** Bella asked in her mind.

**Bells, I think I'm hearing more than just you… I think this woman patting me down is having… thoughts about me… **Edward thought back to her.

Bella's jaw dropped. **What?**

**Baby, what's happening to me?** Edward thought, with panic in his thoughts.

Bella looked around, then towards Emmett, in her own panic. **Shit, shit, shit. Emmett, we gotta hurry this process up. Edward's hearing more thoughts than mine.**

Emmett's head snapped up to her. **Are you shitting me right now?** He thought, in alarm.

**No, I'm not. This just got a whole lot more complicated. **She thought, as her pat-down concluded.

She waited for Edward, anxiously. Hoping that he wouldn't lose his focus with this information.

Finally, Edward was away from the security area, and walked over to Bella. She grabbed his hand as they waited for Emmett.

"Are you ok?" She asked him.

**I'm not sure. I don't know how the hell that just happened. And even the way she was ogling me was disgusting. **Edward thought to her.

She growled and started to turn back to the security area to have it out with the woman. But Edward grabbed a hold of her around the waist, pulling her back.

**Easy, tiger. **Edward thought.

She glanced over her shoulder, up at him, with a slight glare.

"Don't think I'm gonna let that hussy get away with that shit. No one messes with my fiancé. Cheap hooker…" Bella muttered the last part towards he woman who had patted Edward down.

**Really Bells, let it go. We don't have time to bail you out of an Italian jail. We gotta get out of here.** Edward thought to her.

She calmed down, somewhat. "You're right, I'm sorry. I just don't take well to slutty women. No dignity."

He laughed a little at that. **That's my girl.** He smiled down at her.

Emmett finally walked over to them after his turn. "That woman a little on the handsy side with you, Edward?" He smirked.

"Oh my god!" Bella almost shouted, and then buried her face in her hands and scrubbing them across. "That woman better hope I don't come across her again."

"Hey now. Come on. We gotta get to the gate. Rose, Jasper and Ali are already there, waiting. We don't have time for you to take out your frustration out on the hoe. You've got your boy toy; we're on our way home, chill. We've got more important things to worry about." **Like keeping Edward on point. **Emmett thought the last part to Bella.

"I know, I know, I know. Ok, let's go find them and hopefully we can get on the damn plane soon." Bella said then looked back up at Edward. "You still good?"

**Yep. So far, so good.** Edward thought to her.

"You're doing so incredibly well. I'm so proud of you." Bella said, and then kissed his lips, sweetly.

"Oh God! My innocent eyes!" Emmett joked.

Bella turned around and punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow! Fuck, Bellsy!" Emmett exclaimed, rubbing his arm where Bella hit him.

Bella turned back to Edward. "See? Upside to being one of us. There's a way to inflict pain on Emmett." She smiled and turned around to stick her tongue out at Emmett.

"It's on when we get back home, Bellsy. Just wait." Emmett taunted.

"I look forward to it, brother dear." Bella smirked.

"Aw shit." Emmett muttered under his breath. Knowing Bella could take him.

"That's what I thought. You oughta know not to fuck with me, Em." Bella stated, grabbing Edward's hand, and pulling him towards Rosalie, Jasper and Alice.

"I can't take you guys anywhere can I?" Alice complained as they approached her.

"But she started it, Ali!" Emmett all but shouted, pointing at Bella.

"Did not!" Bella shot back.

**Christ, Edward, I wish you could get a handle on your woman, sometimes. She's worse than Em and me.** Alice thought, mostly to herself, not knowing Edward could hear it.

Edward held onto the breath he had been holding, trying not to let anything in. "Wish I could, Ali." He said quickly.

Alice jumped and squeaked, covering her mouth with her hands. "What the fuck? How did you hear that? I didn't say it out loud."

"Uh, Alice, you caught everything else that happened back there, but you didn't catch that Edward heard the woman who had her hands all over him at the checkpoint?" Bella asked, kind of amused.

Alice eyed her. "Well I'm sorry. I can't pay attention to everything. What the hell happened?"

Edward nudged Bella from behind. **You tell her.**

"Edward was able to hear the woman at the security area's thoughts. There hasn't been much else that he's heard from other people, other than me. So we were taken a little off guard. When we get home, hopefully we can maybe get some research or something done on this and figure out why. I wasn't sure that he would still be able to, and now he's able to hear more. His powers are still there, though. We tried that out in the woods earlier. Those seem to be in complete control. I just wish they were for me, too." Bella explained, keeping her voice low for only their little group to hear.

"B, you said you were getting a handle on it earlier. What changed?" Alice asked.

"I made the car stop on the way here. It was an accident, but I still did it. I don't want to do that when we're ten thousand feet in the air." Bella told them, with her head down.

Edward put his arm around her waist, pulling her to him.

**You'll be fine. Don't you always tell me I'm going to be fine with this life? You will too, with my powers. Don't worry so much. We're all here for you, too. It's not just me they're helping.** He thought to her, kissing her temple.

"You're right. I should take my own advice." Bella admitted. Then they heard the first calls for their flight. "Ok, we need to go in with this group. We're all at the back, so kind of stick together. Em, I need you to sit with me and Edward. Just in case. Ali, can you sit with Rose and Jasper? Behind us?"

Alice and Emmett both nodded.

**Try to act somewhat sick.** Bella thought to Edward.

Edward nodded back.

They made their way to the gate and started going through the protocol of boarding.

"Is he the sick one?" The male worker asked as Edward and Bella made it towards the front of the line.

"Yes. They told us to go in with the first class, when they boarded. I think our seats are at the back of the plane." Bella told the worker.

"Of course. Go on through. If you need anything, ask one of the stewardesses. They will help with whatever you need." The man said, with a strong Italian accent.

"Thank you so much." Bella said, smiling at the man, and ushered Edward to the gate.

"Are you sure he's going to be ok in there? Should we really be that close to him?" Rosalie asked Bella.

"That's why I'm gonna have Em sit with us. Emmett will be more likely to restrain him if I can't, without drawing much attention to Alice, if she were to sit with us. And I'd rather the two of you be behind us, so airflow won't blow your scent his way. That will be safer for all of you." Bella told them as they were making their way down the corridor to the plane after checking in.

Once they found their seats and settled in, Bella spoke up. "Go ahead and take a breath, while there aren't too many people on here. I know it's gotta be uncomfortable right now."

Edward looked at her to make sure it was safe. She only nodded and he let his breath out.

There was an obvious burn in his throat, but he was able to hold onto his control. There weren't that many people on board yet, maybe fifteen people, so it was tolerable compared to a full plane. He felt the hand on his own, and gripped it tightly.

"You're fine. You're doing really well with this. Just stay focused on feeling me here. Let it keep you grounded." Bella soothed him.

"Can you just hold onto my hand the whole flight? That will help keep my mind off of the smell. Right now it's helping more than anything else." Edward asked her, hopefully.

"Of course. How about this. We can pretend to be asleep, and I can lean into you and you can hold onto me that way. Maybe my scent will outweigh the scent of blood for you?" She suggested to him.

"Sounds perfect. Your scent has become like second nature to me since I woke up. It's so… inviting and fresh. Floral, like freesia, lilac and a bit of honey. It's so delicious." He murmured in her ear.

"Stop it; we can't do that on here. That's a sure way for us to all go down with this plane." She hit his shoulder, scolding him slightly.

"I can't help it, Bell. You're even more irresistible now." He growled as he leaned in against her neck.

"Alright you two, that's enough of that shit. Ed, man, you do realize that part of the package of the bond, the three of us have, is empathic… right?" Emmett smirked.

"Ah shit…" Edward grumbled, as he slouched down in his seat.

"Goddamnit, Emmett!" Bella quietly hissed. "Do I ever get on your case when you're having one of your 'special times' with a girl? Fuck no. Now drop it. Do you want me to tell numbers?"

Emmett's eyes widened and he turned straight forward, not meeting Bella's eyes.

"That's what I thought. Let me enjoy the one love that I have in my life." She defended.

They all quietly talked until it was time to take off.

The take off wasn't pleasant for Edward.

**Shit… I don't remember it being this intense, before. **Edward held onto Bella as the plane lifted off the ground.

"I know. I'm sorry. Part of the senses thing. Not only do you smell, hear and see things better, but you feel a lot more, too. It's heightened. You get used to it, though. It just takes time." Bella tried to soothe.

**It's definitely different**. He went on.

As they were getting further into the flight, Edward was trying to stay at ease. Though it was very difficult. He wanted, so badly, to breathe. But Bella would constantly remind him to hold on as long as he could.

Rosalie and Jasper could tell the toll this was taking on their brother.

"Bella," Rosalie whispered, knowing she could hear her. "He's not looking so good. What's wrong?"

"He's fighting the urge to breathe, right now. It's always like second nature to you, so when you become a vampire, it's a habit. And it's hard to break it. We don't _have_ to breath, but it's really uncomfortable not to. But once we're used to not having to breath all the time, there are times that you can look at us, and we're as still as statues. We're not moving, not breathing. That's the other thing, too. We don't really have to move, fidget, or whatever. We're not compelled to do so. The compulsion doesn't exist in us anymore. So, to the outside world, he really does look sick. But to us, we know he's fighting an urge. He's holding his own, for right now. It's still going to be a while before he can do it without a problem. It takes practice. And that's what we've been working on. He'll get there. We just have to help him with it. He's going to need the two of you to help, too." Bella whispered back.

They both nodded in understanding.

"Is he still hearing other people's thoughts?" Jasper asked, quietly.

Bella looked over at Edward and checked his mind. He was definitely hearing other voices. She could see that he was working through who they were, where they were, what they were saying and to who, what he wanted to block out, and such. It had increased in volume, in both ways, since earlier. But at least he was focusing on it. It was helping him keep his mind off of the scents that were in the air.

Edward's head snapped to hers, eyes wide.

"Shit… sorry." She apologized, realizing that he heard her too. She turned back to Jasper and Rosalie. "Yeah, he is. It was helping a great deal, until I disrupted it. But that's the kind of things that are good for him." She turned her head to Edward, "It _is._You weren't even thinking about blood before I thought anything."

"S'okay." He whispered out, without letting much in. It was an exercise he wanted to try.

"You're doing amazingly, baby. You don't even know how well you're really doing. Just keep it up and you'll be sitting in the middle of the high school gym full of humans in no time." Bella smiled, nudging him.

His eyes widened at that. He wasn't sure how he felt about doing that yet.

"Don't worry. We'll work up to it, like everything else." She kissed his shoulder. "We've still got a long ways to go till we're home, so we may as well 'rest', or at least look like we are."

Everyone went back to their own thing then. Jasper and Rosalie, both, grabbed pillows to try to go to sleep. Rosalie went to sleep quickly, but Jasper couldn't seem to sleep. So he ended up talking to Alice for a while.

Emmett pulled out a magazine and started reading through it.

Edward did what Bella suggested. He pulled Bella into his arms, while she leaned her head against his chest. He buried his nose in her hair, and inhaled. It was calming and gave him the focus that he needed the most.

The plane ride was mostly spent that way for Edward and Bella. Someone would make their way to the bathrooms at the back of the plane, and Edward would have to grip Bella tighter to keep from doing anything. She would in-turn grip him, as well. Emmett would also either put a hand on Edward's shoulder, or a hand out to stop him if someone went by. He wanted to be prepared.

They finally made it back to Seattle without any major problems on the plane. They were all extremely thankful for that. They were on pins and needles for the whole flight, but as long as they made it back to Forks without any setbacks, then they would call this a victory.

"Jasper? Em? Can you guys handle the bags from baggage claim? I'll go get the car and bring it around front. I think if Edward's in the car, he should be ok." Bella asked them, holding onto Edward's hand, tightly.

They both nodded and headed off to baggage claim, and Rosalie and Alice went with Bella and Edward.

"Bells, you ok with him?" Alice asked, walking beside Edward.

"Yeah, for now. Stay on that side of him, just in case I need you to help me with him." Bella said as they made their way into the parking garage.

Once they found Carlisle's SUV that they had driven there, they piled in and drove around to pick up Emmett and Jasper.

Poor Jasper wasn't used to this many girl's bags.

"Aww, Jasper, I'm sorry. I didn't realize how many were actually checked. Let me help with those." Alice said, as she got out of the car to help.

Edward had to hold onto the seat with the gust of air that came through the car suddenly.

"Alice! Shut the fucking door!" Bella shouted from the driver seat.

Alice turned to see Edward's face. "Oh shit! I'm sorry Edward!" Alice said as she rushed to shut the door.

"You're ok. Just breathe real quickly and hold it in while they get things loaded." Bella tried to sooth him.

Edward nodded and did as she said. He knew once they were on the road, he would be able to breathe better.

Once everything and everyone was packed into the car, Bella pulled out of the airport and made it to the main road back to Forks. As they were getting into the less populated area, Bella rolled down the windows to let the fresh air in for Edward.

"Does it help?" Bella asked him.

"You have no idea. I can't even smell Rose and Jazz. It's actually a little soothing, if that makes sense." Edward said with a smile.

They continued on their way back home, hoping that Edward's mom would be understanding about what happened in Italy. And not knowing what happened at Elizabeth's doctor's appointment.

So? Anyone like it? Hate it? Anything?

Rec for the week: 'Stranded' by dangerousandbeautiful (Very good story)


	23. Chapter 23 AN

Hey y'all! I know you guys are wanting a new chapter, and trust me, it'll be up in the next day or two.

BUT!….. *pause for dramatic effect*…. This story got nominated for an award! 'Most promising Twilight FanFiction' Wootwoot! And I was also nominated for 'Most motivational beta'. (I'll deal with you later, Lola…)

These are both awards from 'Energize W.I.P. (work in progress) Awards' by Noreia NC Charly

Voting starts on November 1st- November 15th.

VOTE, VOTE, VOTE! Pllleeeeaaasssseeee? Go vote, tell your friends to vote, your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband, aunt, uncle, mom, dad, whoever! Vote!

But seriously, I'm just happy I was nominated. I've never been nominated for anything like this, and I have to thank Lola(LaurieWhitlock) for nominating me. (She's also nominated in the beta category. So you can vote for her. She's awesome!) Love you sorella! Muahs!

I've never really been involved in these awards, but it's uber fun!

I'm not gonna cry if I don't win(because let's face it, there's some awesome stories up there and I'm used to not winning at anything) but I still would love for all my fans who read and support my stories to vote. Let all your friends know, I really would appreciate it.

The link is on my page for you to vote.

So go vote! You know you want to!

Love you guys!

Amy(myagrace)


	24. Chapter 24

Heylo all my peoples! Sorry for the delay. Food poisoning doesn't really help with the writing process. I've also been getting some of the ideas for my new story together and weeding them out. I think I've got a good starting point ready to work with though.

Speaking of which, MUY IMPORTANTE! Very important A/N at the bottom. I need your help with something.

As usual, if you don't know my Lola is my beta, then you should be hit with something.

And of course, SM owns.

OMG you guys, we're less than two weeks away from BD! EEEEEEEEEEEE! Who else is going midnighting? Me and Katie are going. CAN'T WAIT! It's gonna be flippin AWESOME!

Ok, I'm good.

On with the story.

* * *

><p>Chapter 23<p>

Bella pulled the car into the driveway of her house. While the others poured out of the car, and into the house, Bella and Edward lingered.

"They're going to hate me…" Edward muttered to himself as he looked down.

Bella grabbed his hand in hers. "Knock that shit off, right now. They would never hate you. Why would you even think that?"

"Bella, if we hadn't moved here, there wouldn't have been a huge fight where your family could have gotten killed. They followed us here…" Edward went on.

"Edward, really, Aro would have used any excuse to come after my family. He was just using whatever advantage he could find to get to us, and to you and your family. He got lucky that he was able to see it from my dad. Just don't beat yourself up about this. We've got enough on our plates without having to add self flagellation to the mix. Come on, we need to get in there and let them know what's been going on." Bella urged him.

Edward took a deep breath and exited the car, while Bella came around the front to grab his hand. They walked up the front stairs into the house where the others were waiting for them.

"Buhbay, I missed you so much." Esme came up to Bella, hugging her tightly. "How are you two handling things?" She asked, looking to Edward.

"I'm ok. Everything's so different now, and it's weird to try and relearn stuff. But we're getting through it. Bella's been such a huge help. She's been my strength the whole time." Edward told her, smiling at Bella and kissing her hand.

"Aww. You two are just so good together. This life seems to suit you, Edward. You don't seem to be having as hard a time having your brother and sister just over there." Esme said, motioning over her shoulder.

Edward looked over to where they were by the back door, about to go on the back deck with Emmett and Alice, and breathed in. He had gotten so used to their scents that it was more like a faint burn. But it burned, nonetheless.

"I don't even really think about their scents, in particular, anymore. I'm sure once they've gone back home and we've been away from each other for a bit, that it'll be worse. I'm not looking forward to that. But, I managed on the flight. Bella and Emmett had to make sure I wasn't going to get up and tear apart the plane a couple of times, but we did fine. Rose and Jazz were behind us the whole time so it was easier that way. But you're right; I do feel like I belong in this life." Edward said proudly.

Esme smiled at that. "I'm so glad. We have a surprise for the two of you. This will actually be perfect for the both of you. Come on." She dragged them further into the house.

As they made their way into the living room, the other vampires looked to Edward.

"Stop staring! He's not a circus attraction, he's one of us." Bella snapped at everyone, giving them a glare.

Edward could hear the thoughts of almost all of the other vampires in the room. Some were supportive, others were… not so positive. Those were the ones that were saying _'This could be a really bad decision.'_ and _'They're going to get us all killed next time.'_ the one that pissed him off the most was from Kate, _'Bella's a complete idiot for getting us involved with fucking witches.'_

Edward was tired of her shit. He turned quickly and pointed a finger at Kate. "Watch your thoughts, Kate!" he snarled. "Bella didn't start any of this, and neither did my family. So I suggest you take whatever problems you have with me and my family, and deal with them. I'm obviously not going anywhere, and I'm not going to stand for your badmouthing my family either. Got it?"

Kate just huffed and crossed her arms.

Garrett turned to her and nudged her shoulder. "Kate, don't. He's right; we can't blame him or his family. Aro was a prick who would do anything to get us to falter. If you remember, we were a way for him to get to the kids once before. Cut them some slack."

"Thank you, Garrett. I appreciate that. I wish you all would understand that this isn't easy for them to deal with. They may be used to the supernatural, but they're used to their supernatural. They've been thrown into our world and they need whatever support they can get. And I'm gonna spell this out for you all. Alice likes Jasper. Em likes Rose. There is a very good possibility that they could each have a relationship, one way or the other. I'm sure your own kids would like your support in that." Bella reasoned.

Emmett and Alice's heads snapped up at what Bella was saying to their parents.

**Bellsy! What are you doing? Don't bring us into this! Ah fuck…** Emmett huffed and turned back to Rosalie and Jasper. **We're never gonna hear the end of this, Ali.**

"Cram it, Em!" Bella said, raising her voice to where they were at outside.

Kate, Garrett, Peter and Charlotte all had looks of shock on their faces. They had had no idea that their kids were interested in the human witches. They all thought that their kids would find a vampire mate.

"That's what I thought. You guys had no idea… Waaaiiit… Uh, Edward, can I have a minute with you? Outside?" Bella asked, with uneasiness lacing her words.

"Bells?" Edward asked hesitantly.

She shook her head, and turned to go back out the front door.

Edward followed right behind her, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Bell, you're worrying me. What's going on?" He asked as they were making it halfway down the driveway.

"I heard them… heard their thoughts. I've never done that before with anyone other than Em, Ali and you. What's happening to me? It's like we're both changing after you've become a vampire. Vampires aren't supposed to change after turning someone. Edward, I'm scared that something's wrong." She said worriedly as she hugged herself to him.

"Oh, baby." He wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I'm sorry. Do you think your dad may know what's going on? He may have come across something with the research he did while we were gone. You said he was jumping into more research when you had to change me to find out anything he could to help you."

"I don't know. I hope he found something. We're going to need all the answers we can come up with." Bella said, extricating herself from Edward and pulling him back to the house.

While Bella and Edward had been outside, Carlisle pulled Esme onto the porch.

"Es, I think something bigger is happening with Bella and Edward. She called me and told me about everything that happened before they left, and… we could be looking at something that changes our world, completely…" Carlisle whispered to her, so no one would hear them.

Esme's eyes widened. "Carlisle, what do you mean? Is something going to happen to them?" Esme asked frantically.

"Shh. I don't know for sure, sweetie. But I came across something that could very well be what we've been trying to find out from the beginning… And it could be why Aro was after them." Carlisle whispered again, looking to make sure Edward and Bella weren't back yet.

"That seriously doesn't make me feel any better about this… What the hell is going on?" Esme hissed, quietly.

"It's ok. We'll talk about it later, but I don't want them to know, quite yet. I want to make sure before we turn their worlds upside down." Carlisle told her, but could also hear what Bella was telling Edward, which made him worry. "But after what she just said, I'm afraid my suspicions may be true." He kissed her forehead, and turned back to the house.

When Bella and Edward returned, and everyone was back inside, they informed everyone about what happened since they left Italy.

"So, wait a sec. You're hearing everyone's thoughts now, and Bella is starting to hear them as well?" Charlotte asked, trying to understand what was going on. She turned to Carlisle. "Carlisle, this isn't normal. This doesn't happen to us."

"I know. But we need to be on our toes to see if anything else happens with any of them. Em and Alice could be affected too. We don't know yet. So I want you all to keep an eye on them. Es and I will keep an eye on Edward and Bella." Carlisle said to the other parents, and then turned to Edward and Bella. "Edward, I don't think it would be a good idea for you to go back to your house with your family, alone. So here's what I was thinking. Either you could stay here with Bella and us… or you can move into the house you put an offer on that we bought for you two…" He told them, smiling.

Bella and Edward both looked shocked. "Hold up… You bought the house for us? How…" Bella asked her father, stunned.

"The realtor called for you Saturday, and we told her we would go ahead and pay for it. You guys were already dealing with enough and we wanted to do something for you." Esme said, then was slammed into by her daughter.

"Thank you both. This means so much to me. But you guys really didn't have to. We didn't want to bother you guys with any of that." Bella said into her mother's hair as she hugged her tightly.

"Oh buhbay," Esme pulled back to cup her face. "We were thrilled to do it. It's our wedding gift for you and Edward. You two need your space and we don't want to be the 'stuffy parents' hanging around in the newlyweds' way. But you both know that you are welcome here anytime you want. It doesn't matter when. I'll still want to see my little girl all the time. That goes for Rosalie and Jasper too." She looked over at them, standing by the kitchen doorway, "You're all welcome in this house."

"Thank you, Esme." Rosalie and Jasper both said.

"We've gotten new things for the house, as well. Furniture, dishes, accessories, food. You're all set to move in." Esme beamed.

"Aw, mom… Thank you." Bella said, hugging her mother again, then moved to her father.

"Esme, I don't know what to say, other than thank you. You've already done so much for us…" Edward started as he hugged Esme.

"Oh nonsense. You're my new son. You're a part of this family now. We take care of our own. Even if they aren't blood related… well, you know what I mean…" Esme smiled, trying not to laugh.

Edward let out a chuckle, and then kissed her cheek.

"So do we get to see the love nest, or what?" Emmett asked, smirking.

Esme turned and smacked him upside the back of the head. "Emmett, have a little restraint."

"Hey, Alice was thinking the same thing!" Emmett defended, rubbing the back of his head.

"At least Alice has enough sense to keep her mouth shut. You on the other hand, dear nephew… well you're the outspoken one of the group. I don't know what I expected." Esme said, smiling, then shooed him away to go back over to Alice and the others.

"Geez, Bellsy. You had to get your mom against me too?" Emmett asked, feigning hurt.

"No, she just doesn't like you." Bella said nonchalantly, smirking at him.

"Alright, kids. That's enough. You know I love all of you, no matter what. Now, Edward, your mother will be here soon. She wanted to know as soon as you all got back. We tried to hold her off for as long as we could, but we couldn't lie to her. Not with her health…" Esme started, and then stopped, realizing they didn't know about Elizabeth yet.

But Edward was already seeing it in her head. And in Carlisle's. The images of him telling her the news from the tests couldn't be stopped.

Edward took in a sharp breath and looked up at them. "Why didn't you tell us yet?" He said in a small voice.

Carlisle walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Edward, we wanted to wait for her to be the one to tell you all. She needs to do this. But don't dwell on this right now. We'll work with her, get her treatments, and anything else we can possibly think of. We're going to fight for her, son." He told him in a low voice, where Rosalie and Jasper couldn't quite hear.

Edward felt a single tear run down his face at the news.

Carlisle smiled sadly at him. "Well at least one of our theories was correct. You turned out more like Bella because her venom runs through your veins now."

Edward smiled slightly at him. It was true. He felt like he was dealing with just the aspects of being a vampire that Bella was. He hadn't noticed much of the others' traits in himself. But he preferred it this way. He and Bella were more equal now then if he were more like Carlisle and Esme. He wouldn't have been upset if he had, but it made him feel like they were on level playing field.

Edward could hear a car coming up the driveway and he tensed.

"Shit…" He muttered under his breath.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Rosalie asked, looking around at everyone.

"Mom…" Edward answered, grabbing Bella's hand. "Emmett? Can you help me?" He asked.

"Yeah, you got it." Emmett said, as he made his way over to Edward and Bella. Alice stayed beside Jasper and Rosalie for safety.

They stayed still until they heard the shutting of a car door, footsteps up the stairs and a knock on the door.

"Damn it…." Edward hissed under his breath as he caught the scent of new human blood. "Bells, I hate this… do I need to be in here for this part?" He was almost begging her.

She put her hands on either side of his face. "Edward… don't think about the blood. Think about the fact that that person on the other side of the door is your mother. You love her just like you love Rose and Jazz. Hold your breath if you have to. Remember this is always going to happen when someone new comes around. Just… if you can do it, don't look right at her. Focus on something else. If you're not looking right at her, it's not quite as hard to resist."

Carlisle had walked over to the door, and was waiting for the go-ahead from Bella and Edward to let Elizabeth in.

When Bella finally nodded, Carlisle turned back to the door and opened it up.

"Elizabeth, how are you today?" Carlisle asked, wanting to see how her health had been since he'd seen her at the hospital.

"I've been better, Carlisle. The throwing up subsided a bit over the past couple of days. But you said the kids were coming back, and the car's out front. Where are they?" Elizabeth asked, not beating around the bush.

Carlisle sighed. "Elizabeth, I want you to prepare yourself for this… Edward didn't come home the way he left. He's ok, but he's not the way he was before."

Elizabeth's mouth was hanging open in shock. "What do you mean? What happened to him?" She asked, as she made her way into the house, seeing Edward for the first time. "Oh my god… Edward…"

Edward had every muscle locked, trying not to move.

"Edward, as you can see, is no longer human. There was a fight while they were in Italy, and one of the vampires they were fighting bit him. Bella had to act, or he would have died. I, personally, would have done the same thing she did. Anyone's life is too precious to waist if we can do something about it, we do." Carlisle explained, while Elizabeth still didn't know what to say.

"Mom, we agreed. We were there when it happened and I can't blame her. I told her to do whatever she could to save him. You can blame me if you want, but he's at least still here with us." Rosalie interjected, defending their actions.

"Honey, I'm not blaming you. I just… don't know what to say." Elizabeth continued to stare at Edward.

Edward was looking at the wall beside Carlisle, trying not to breath.

**Bella, can we take this outside? At least get me out of here so I can get some fresh air.** Edward begged her.

"Em, outside." Bella simply said.

Emmett knew what she wanted and grabbed Edward by the shoulder and steered him towards the back door. Bella followed closely behind.

"Where are they taking him, Carlisle?" Elizabeth asked, worriedly.

"My guess is that Edward needs fresh air. He caught your scent and it hit him kind of hard. So Bella and Emmett are helping him cope with it. It takes a while for us to get used to a human's scent, so he's got a ways to go before he'll be able to be around humans without having the urge to kill. But he will get there. We'll help him in any way we can." Carlisle explained to her.

Edward walked out onto the back deck and took a deep, cleansing breath.

"You need to talk to her, Edward. She needs to know you're still you and that the only thing that's changed is your physical self." Bella said as he looked over the river.

"I know. But we're gonna have to do it out here. I need the fresh air to keep me from going insane. Being in an enclosed area, I can't think straight. The blood just keeps going around in there and it's just as bad as the plane. I do need to hunt soon, though." Edward told her.

"Are you going to be able to hold off, or do we need to go now?" Emmett asked from beside the door.

"I think I can wait a bit, but she deserves to know. I don't want her to have to wait any longer." Edward paced back and forth.

"Ok, I'll get Ali to get her out here." Bella said, sending her thoughts to Alice, inside.

"Jazz and Rose too." Edward amended.

Bella simply nodded.

A few seconds later, Elizabeth, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice came out on the deck, and situated themselves around.

Carlisle and Esme watched as Edward's family walked outside and started talking, and Carlisle couldn't help but be nervous.

"You're worried." Esme stated, without even looking at him.

"I am. It pretty much solidified my fears from before. I'm just worried what this will do to Elizabeth when she finds out the six of them are the _potente sovrani._ She's not going to last for long as it is…" Carlisle mused to his wife.

* * *

><p>I know, I know, I know. Don't get your panties in a twist, though. We're getting there. Answers will come in the next chapter…maybe…<p>

_potente sovrani- _powerful sovereigns. (don't ask. Just go with it.)

Ok guys, here's what I need your help with. I'm trying to decide on a title of my new story. And I want your input. Put it in a review, pm me, something.

So here are the options.

'Ticking Time Bomb'

'Just a Dream'

'Without a Sound'

'Love You Like a Love Song' (I'm not crazy in love with this one, but it's still out there)

'It Will Rain'

Let me know what you guys think, and pleeeeaaasssseeee review. It helps me know whether this story is any good or if it's shit. If I don't hear from you, then I don't know what you guys want or like.


	25. Chapter 25

Hey guys! Ok, this isn't a full-FULL chapter. More like an outtake. I just want you guys to know what's been happening. I know a lot of you have been wondering what's wrong with Elizabeth. This will explain things better.

As you all know, Lola's my beta(LaurieWhitlock)

And as usual, SM owns Twilight, and I sadly don't. *sad face*

Ok, who else is going to the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn? Me and Kate are going and I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED! Ok, I'm good. Gah this is gonna be so awesome!

* * *

><p>Chapter 24- Carlisle and Elizabeth Outtake<p>

Carlisle and Elizabeth were situated in Carlisle's office at the hospital. Carlisle had just read her the results of her tests she had done.

She had been sitting there for what felt like an hour, but was really only a few minutes, thinking about what this meant for her and her children.

"So how long?" She asked, trying to hold off the tears.

Carlisle sighed. He hated that he had to deliver this kind of news to someone who was a wonderful mother and has already been through so much in loosing her husband. He also knew that things would be worse when the kids came home and she found out about Edward.

"Liz, there's no concrete number. But for as long as it's been in your body, there's not a lot of time left. A few months, at best. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers. It spreads so rapidly and is extremely hard to catch in the early stages. Surgery usually isn't possible, depending on how far along it is, and how badly it has spread. By the time it's caught in any tests, there's maybe a year, at the most for survival. You can try treatments to lengthen your time with the kids, but it'll buy you a minimum amount."

Elizabeth finally let the tears fall. Carlisle went to sit beside her on the sofa, holding her tightly in his arms.

When she had quieted her cries, somewhat, she thought about the whole situation. What treatments would mean for her, and for her children. She was terrified what that would do to them if they had to go through that with her.

"The treatments? They're going to make me sick and weaker?" Elizabeth asked in a small voice.

"Unfortunately, yes. Its part of the side effects of the meds they administer. But the time you could get from it would-" Carlisle started, but Elizabeth cut him off.

"No, Carlisle. No treatments. I'm not going to do that to them. I don't want them to have to keep bringing me in here when I'm sick and having to constantly stay here with me. They have school and they need to be focused on that. Not their dying mother…" Elizabeth grew quiet for a while.

"Elizabeth, if you're sure that's what you want to do, then I won't order the treatments. I'll look over you at your home as things progress, if you'd like."

Elizabeth just nodded.

As she continued to sit there, she thought about when she would be gone, and what would happen to Edward, Jasper and Rosalie.

"Carlisle? Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Of course. Whatever it is, I'm all ears." Carlisle responded as he sat back on the sofa.

"Will you take the kids in when I'm gone? I know you can protect them and they'll be safe with you all. That's all I want for them. They're comfortable around all of you and we don't really have any other family. Edward's already eighteen, and Rose and Jasper will be soon, too. But I want them to have some sort of family to go to. I don't want them to be alone." She whispered the last part.

"Liz, you don't have to worry about that. We won't let them be alone. They'll always have us. Esme and I will look after them and we'll take care of everything for them. They'll go to college, and have whatever opportunities they want for themselves. You just focus on the time you have left with them. I know you don't want to waist any of it. The kids will be home the day after tomorrow. So we can get whatever you need to take care for when the time comes. It's best to be prepared for it, so there's no running around or confusion later. I know it sounds bad-"

"No, no. you're completely right. I need to get things in order. Not just the funeral and my will, but with their book of spells. I need to make sure everything is protected for them and that they know all there is to know about it. I thought I would have had longer to do this with them, but I guess I should do it before it's too late and they have to take the crash course alone. Please make sure the book is protected as well, Carlisle. It can never fall into the wrong hands. It has a spell on it that will protect itself, but there are enemies that will try whatever they can to counteract that and get a hold of it." Elizabeth explained to him, making sure he understood the magnitude of things.

"Don't worry. We won't let anything happen to it. We'll help you with any preparations you need done. Rose and Jasper are more than welcome to stay at our house. I doubt Edward has told you, and we didn't know until the other day. But Bella and Edward found a house for themselves. They want to get their own place. Which I understand you're worried, but Bella is incredibly responsible. And it's not like she can get pregnant, so there's nothing to worry about there. But they're adults and in love. Esme and I support them and will always be watching out for them. Bella's always been one to stay close to her family. Everything will be fine."

"You're right. I know I didn't give Bella the benefit of the doubt, and I'm sorry. She really is a wonderful young woman. And I don't think I've ever seen Edward as happy as he is with her. She makes him light up just by being there. And when they came to save Rose… I don't know what I would have done if I'd gotten that call from the hospital. And knowing that that man isn't still out there… I'm just grateful. I know she's good for him. And I don't want to spend whatever time I've got left fighting with him about it. I know he'll be happy." Elizabeth smiled at Carlisle.

"They are happy. Bella's the same way. In three hundred years, I've never seen her this happy and filled with life. It's all I've wanted for her. Edward treats her so well. I couldn't have asked her someone better for her. You've done so well raising them. I think Edward Sr. would be proud." He squeezed her hand.

Elizabeth let out a small sob. "At least I won't have to wait too long to see him again. That's the only upside of death, I'll be able to spend eternity with him now."

"Liz, you know you don't have to do it this way. I can help you stay with your family, if you want. I know it has to be eating you up inside to leave them, but you know you don't have to. You can be one of us and still be with your children." Carlisle tried to sway her, hoping there was something that could help them all stay as a family.

Elizabeth shook her head. "No. I'd rather do it this way. I know it will be painful and so incredibly hard on them, but… this is just how things are. It's how they need to be. I know it's choosing between two evils; spending eternity with my husband, or spending whatever time my children have in their lives, one very well becoming a vampire himself, and then being alone in life. Rarely seeing my son if he became a vampire, too. I wouldn't want him to have to constantly deal with his mother being around. I never wanted to be one of those mothers/mother-in-laws. The ones that hover all the time. I hate having to choose, but it's just how things are. I trust you and Esme to take care of them. I'd never have to worry if something happened to them. I know they'll be fine, in time."

"Do you want me to tell them or do you want to do it?" Carlisle asked after a moment.

"I'll do it when they come back."

* * *

><p>Who else had tears? I know I did. Wait til the next chapter. I was a blubbering mess when I wrote it. I'm gonna try to get it out in the next week. No promises. I've been in the worst pain of my life lately and it's hard to write when you can't focus on it. But I'm tryin.<p>

I'll see you guys soon!


	26. Chapter 26

Hey you guys! Soooooo so sorry about not updating sooner. Roadblocks and the holidays don't help with the writing process. But we're getting there. I know I shorted you guys with the little outtake from last chapter. But that needed to be in there. Don't give up on me. I WILL FINISH THIS STORY. No matter what. It may just not be as in depth as the rest of the story. I'm still working on getting the rest lined up to finish.

Sooo, if any of you don't have me on author alert, I wrote a 'one-shot', that'll probably end up being a two-shot. There's a bit more I wanna do with it. If you haven't checked it out yet, it's called 'The Greatest Man I Never Knew'. yes it's based off a song, yes I did that with another story, if you've followed both of my stories. Lol I can't help it. I told Lola that I have a sickness towards doing that.

Speaking of Lola, you all know by now that she's my beta, and bestest sorella. Muahs.

And SM owns everything, except for my ideas that keep roaming in my head.

On with the story!

* * *

><p>Chapter 25<p>

"Pancreatic cancer? Are they sure?" Rosalie asked Elizabeth, trying to hold off her tears, but not succeeding.

"Carlisle did the tests himself. And even ran them twice. I thought everything was from dealing with your father's death and the move. I never thought it was anything big until recently. Things just seemed to keep getting worse and you know there were some days that there was no way for me to get out of bed. Other days I was fine. So when you all suggested I go to the doctor, I agreed. I'm glad I did, because now I know I've got a little time to spend with you before I go." Elizabeth explained, letting the tears fall over her cheeks.

Rosalie launched herself at her mother and started sobbing. Jasper and Edward made their way over to Elizabeth as well and held each other tight. Bella, Emmett and Alice stood back, trying to give them some privacy. Elizabeth had told them that she wanted them out there with her.

Regardless, Bella would have stayed out there to make sure Edward was in control.

"I know Edward will be fine… and I have no doubt that this is what you wanted. You were right. You've always been able to handle things like this with no problem. Your choices in life have always been for the best. And Bella has a good head on her shoulders." Elizabeth turned to Bella. "I know I haven't been the most accepting, and I apologize. You're a good girl and I know you'll lead him well through this life. Thank you for saving him the way you did." Bella just bowed her head, with a tear sliding down her own cheek. Elizabeth turned back to her children. "I talked with Carlisle. He's going to take you in… when the time comes. I know you're all going to go off to college in the next year or two, but I want you to always have a family to come back to. Carlisle and Esme promised me that they would look after all of you, no matter what. That means college, housing, whatever. You'll always still have all of your inheritance from before and from me, but they're going to make sure you're all using wisely, and that if you ever need anything, they're there.

"I've already taken care of everything for you; both humanly and magically. The book is safe for you three. There shouldn't be any problems in protecting it, but Carlisle and Esme also said they would try to make sure it's protected from getting into the wrong hands. The spells, potions, everything is in there. I've told you that you can add to it, but you must be careful. Mixing the wrong spell up, could turn out very badly.

"But the main thing is that you don't have to worry about anything when the time comes. Carlisle helped me get everything done and you'll always be taken care of." Elizabeth told them with teary, worn eyes.

"Mom, why not become one of us? You could be saved from all of this pain and suffering. I'm sure that-" Edward tried to reason with her, but she cut him off.

"No, baby… I've thought about all of this and… this is just how it turned out. You know I hate that I'm going to be leaving you, but it's not like I'll be alone on the other side. Your father and I can spend our eternity together, and… Edward and Bella can spend theirs together. And whatever the two of you decide to do with your lives, even if it means you join them as well… I'm ok with it. I don't want you guys to hesitate with your lives. Do what makes you happy and live freely. Rose… I've seen how protective Emmett is of you. He has a loyal and fierce commitment to your safety and well being. Even I've been able to see it with just the few times you've been around each other. If that's what you want in life, then I don't want my voice to be in the back of your head, nagging you to question whether or not you should do it. That goes for you too, Jasper. Alice is a wonderful girl. I've seen how well you two get along and how natural things are with you. Don't let me be the one that stops you from doing what you feel is right. You'll know it when the time comes. Just keep an open mind and your heart will tell you what you need to know. Just follow it."

Rosalie and Jasper both had shocked faces, but the tears kept their trek down. Edward knew from Bella how they were together, but Jasper and Rosalie obviously hadn't seen it quite as clearly. The three of them hugged her tightly again, just feeling her there.

Edward looked over to where Bella was, and she was being held by Emmett and Alice. Her head on Emmett's shoulder on the one side of her, and Alice's arms wrapped around her waist, with her head on Bella's shoulder, on the other side.

Bella caught that Edward was looking at her.

**Is she completely sure she wants this?** Bella thought to him, with a single tear running down her cheek.

Edward had been listening to his mother's thoughts as she talked, and could tell, without a doubt, that she wanted to do things this way. She didn't want to suffer anymore than necessary, and let her children go through life the way she's always wanted them to. She just had to let them go to do it.

Edward just nodded, letting Bella see what he saw from his mother. Bella's tears came faster now.

"I don't want there to be any sadness when I'm gone, either. Sure, you can grieve, and cry and be sad for a while, just don't let it consume you and let it run your life. You have to focus on what life is bringing your way. I know you'll miss me, and God knows I'll miss you so very much, but I want you to go on with everything. This may be a bump in the road, but always know I'll be watching over the three of you. Just always watch for the butterfly, if you're ever in real need of me. Even if you don't need me for guidance, I'll be there to comfort you… You don't know how proud your father and I have become of the three of you since you've gotten your powers. Watching you grow as they grow, teaching you how to use them, when to use them, and to protect them. Even though you can't exactly see them, you've always known that they are a part of you. Like the physical features you've gotten from your father and me, they're just one more thing to add to the list.

"I wouldn't have chosen another life for any of you. You've been the bright, shining light in the world that we live in. The good that overtakes the depths the darkness that we find ourselves in. You've all shown that when your dad died, and when those hunters came here. Don't ever forget what your father and I have taught you." She turned and looked at just Edward. "Even as a vampire, I still see the same wonderful boy I raised. You're still you. I don't know what I was so worried about before, but… just seeing it for myself, makes me understand why you wanted it. You love her dearly, and the fact that she fought to save you shows me how much she loves you, too. I may not know exactly why the universe worked this way, but I won't question it. You deserve to be happy with her. Protect each other and never let her go. You were right; she's not like anyone else in the world. She's perfect for you." She leaned in and kissed his cheek, as he closed his eyes to take in her love and warmth. She then turned to Rosalie and Jasper again. "You two, I've never known what to do with." She laughed. "You both level each other out. You've always been a team, even when Edward had to play mediator. But you know when the other hurts, or when they're happy. You both feel it all. Just like your grandmother and her twin brother. They were just like you two. Bickering one second, then he'd be hugging her and kissing her head the next. Being a twin isn't bad. You have someone who knows you better than your parents do. You two even had your own language when you were little. It never failed that when I was looking for one of you, the other wasn't far away. But you're both growing up and finding your own ways. Rose. My sweet little flower. You have always been what your name says. You've always been as beautiful as a rose, but even the rose has its thorns. And lately the thorns have been in full force, protecting yourself. Cut away some of the thorns, baby. Let him in and be loved." She whispered the last part to her daughter. "And Jasper, you and Edward had to grow up so much faster when your dad died. You've both been the men of the family and you've done so well handling it. Just don't be afraid to lean on someone else, if you need to. I don't doubt that Edward will be around for you. You've all been through so much as it is, there's no reason that you can't depend on each other. Be good to each other." She hugged them all again, holding them to her.

Bella was surprised at how well Edward was doing that close to Elizabeth. But she could tell he was so caught up in the emotions of what was happening that he didn't notice.

"Now, I want to hear about what happened in Italy. Edward, obviously, became a vampire, but I want to know how it all happened." Elizabeth asked, trying to steer their conversation away from her impending end.

They went on to tell her all that happened while they were gone. Elizabeth got choked up when they told her what happened when Edward was bitten, but found out how quickly Bella acted. She was so grateful to her.

"So…you're not completely against this? What changed?" Edward asked her, wanting to understand.

Elizabeth stood from the lounger, on wobbly legs, and walked over to the edge of the deck to look out over the beautiful yard and river.

"Edward, I want you all to live your lives, and not regret anything you do in it. I want you to live, knowing you've followed your heart. I think being who we are, gives us less of the opportunity to find that great, purposeful love that the two of you have obviously found. It's a lot like Bella, Emmett and Alice. It's almost impossible to find someone who loves you the way you are, AND can handle the secret, and all that goes with it. You've found that, and I want Rose and Jasper to find it as well. Which looks like it might actually be possible if you let it happen." She turned around to look at all of them. "Just don't regret, one day, that you let someone go when you knew it's everything you wanted. Human life is too short to be picky. But a supernatural's life is fickle, and sometimes can be lonely if you don't let your heart take over. Just let whatever is going to happen, happen." Elizabeth finished with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

As they talked more about what happened and what their plans were going forward, Edward kept hearing snippets of Carlisle's thoughts. And what he heard, he wasn't sure was good or not. It was all stuff he had never heard of before, and being new to the vampire world, wasn't sure what any of it meant. So he would try to wait.

Once Jasper and Rosalie took Elizabeth home, and Edward promised to be by later, he went searching for Carlisle.

He heard him in his study, and knocked on the door.

"Come in." He heard from the other side, then entered the room.

"Edward. What can I do for you, son?" Carlisle asked as he motioned for Edward to sit in the chair across from him.

"What was that that you were thinking earlier? Does it have to do with us?" He asked as he sat.

Carlisle sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. "Yes, it was. I think I've figured out why all of this came into being. But we should probably wait until Bella's here to talk about it-" He said but Bella walked in the room.

"No need. I'm right here. What's going on? I came to find you and heard you in here. Is everything ok?" Bella asked as she sat in Edward's proffered lap.

"Sweetheart, I had been doing more research on you two and came across something that is the most likely reason things have happened. Bella, do you know what the _potente sovrani _are?" Carlisle asked, waiting for the recognition to hit her.

She had a confuse look on her face. "The Powerful Sovereigns? But that's insane. There's no way that could be us. And it's always said that it would be… _six…_" She said the last word as if it weighed a ton. She held her face in her hands. "Them too?" She asked, peeking up at her father.

"Wait, six? What does that mean? Six people? But that would mean…_who else?_" Edward strained the last two words.

"I'm afraid you're both on the same page. Yes, Rose and Jasper, too. It had always been thought that the Powerful Sovereigns would never come into our world. Too many vampires as one united group. Many thought that Esme and I, Peter and Charlotte, and Garrett and Kate were the Powerful Sovereigns. But we didn't have any special talents. But then you, Emmett and Alice came along… and you showed signs of strength with your gift… Hmmm… that does make it all more plausible… I think that's why Aro has had it out for us for so long. Because he saw the signs and added two and two… or three and three, if you will. If you three found your mates, and they were gifted vampires, then that would have been it. But the fact that the story says the mate will be created by their vampire mate, tells me that this is what was suppose to happen. This also meant that your mate had to have gifts before he was changed. It had to be a fusion of strength and power. So then Aro had to have been looking for sets of three that were gifted… to kill. So you wouldn't be able to find your mates. As far as I can tell, it was suppose to be siblings to be the mates of the vampires. Aro wanted to get rid of the 'threat' of the Powerful Sovereigns coming to power. Once the final three are all vampires, the strength of all six is said to be incredible. This is why they are called Powerful Sovereigns. They will be the most powerful vampires in our world, and will become the Sovereigns of it, as well. I'm not sure when it's suppose to happen, but at some point… Rosalie and Jasper will become like us."

Edward let out a slight growl at that. He didn't like the thought of them becoming what they were, unless there was no way around it.

"Edward, we don't know how yet. All I know is that this is the only thing that fits. With everything that's going on with your powers, with Bella being able to share them, this is all part of what happens. Once the six is completed, there is no telling what will happen with all of your powers and gifts. But unless they each decide to join us, you four need to keep an eye on them, in case something does happen to them and measures need to be taken. Edward, since you're the next after your mother, it has to be your choice to approve of drastic measures. Elizabeth has already given it, but you're one of us already." Carlisle explained, not being the professional doctor, but the concerned father.

Edward thought for a minute. It made sense to him. Things were different now, but he had to make sure his brother and sister were doing what was best. But they were going to have to stick by each other. This means their decisions, too.

"We'd have to talk to them, but I can see where you're coming from. Even without this new information, I'd say yes, change them if it was needed. Mom's even agreed to all of this; accepted it. So I can't really say too much for them, but I won't stop it if it needs to be done. Even if they want to do it on their own, I won't stop them. They've heard Bella talk about a lot of the things about us, how things work, and they understand. They were even there when I was changed. So they've seen what happens." Edward spoke, and then turned to Bella.

"Yeah, I mean they had their moments of freaking out, but with being coached through what was happening, they better understood what was going on and that he was fine. And, personally, I don't see them having any problems adjusting to this life. If they're anything like how Edward was, it'll be fine.

"And I can see what Elizabeth was talking about, too. And I guess you and mom can, as well. They really do seem like they've found their mates in Rose and Jasper. I've never really seen Em be so attentive… to anyone. And Jasper and Alice just get each other. They're really kind of sickening, actually." She laughed a little. "Things will be interesting with all of us as one full group… I bet that's what Aro was worried about, too. We would be the biggest coven out there. He would have had a hissy fit if he wasn't on top of our world. Not much he can do about it now."

"You two will have to talk to them, explain things to them and let them have all the information. Then they can do whatever they need to do. We'll stand by whatever they decide." Carlisle told them, resting back into his chair.

Edward hesitated for a moment, wondering if he could ask what he really wanted. Finally he just went for it.

"Carlisle… do you know a time… how long mom might have left?" He asked, quietly.

Bella put her arms around his neck, holding him to her.

Carlisle sighed. "I told her the same thing; there really is no definitive number. But if I had to venture a guess… I'd say a few months, without the treatments. And she was adamant about not doing them. She doesn't want the sickness to worsen while she can at least spend some of her time with you, Rosalie and Jasper. We talked, at length, about all of this, and she's made her choice. She just doesn't want her remaining time to be spent more miserable than without any treatments. And yes, it will be painful for her at times, but there's not much we can do for her. Just be there for her. Let her know what she means to you and keep being strong, not just for her, but for Rosalie and Jasper."

Edward nodded his head. "I will. I at least hope she'll be at the wedding in December. If she can help it, I know she'll try. So… everything's taken care of?" Carlisle nodded. "Good. As long as she has some peace of mind, she'll worry a little less along the way. I'm gonna head over there soon. Bells, do you think Emmett could come with us? I'd feel better knowing he's around, just in case."

"Sure. I know he'd love to spend some time with Rose, too. I'll even see if Ali wants to go. We'll see you later, dad." Bella said, and they both headed out the door.

* * *

><p>So, anyone like it? Leave me some reviews. Lets me know if I'm going in the right direction or not. It really does help.<p>

Remember, if you haven't checked it out, go read 'The Greatest Man I Never Knew'. You'll laugh and cry. And I will have up another part to it soon. It'll just be a little something.

AND, go check out LaurieWhitlock(my Lola)'s stories. She does a great job with them. Especially if you like Bella and Jasper pairings *smiles*

Laters my peeps!


	27. Chapter 27

Heya guys! I know, I know, I'm a little late here. Holidays, family, work, crazy people, another story to work on, yeah I've got a lot going. But I did promise you all that I would finish this story, and I will, no matter what.

We've got a little time jump here. Not much, but we're getting the story rolling along here. The next one will have another time jump, as well, just F.Y.I. It's the only way to do this story without it getting boring. Lol

Anywhoozles, ya already know Lola is my beta. She's awesome. Go check out her stories!

And SM owns Twilight. I only own a laptop, and a broken ereader (which now I can't read my fanfics whenever I want! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Ok I'm good)

Gravy, on with the story:p

* * *

><p>Chapter 26<p>

Bella stood looking out the window of her room, at her parent's house. It was finally their wedding day. She would be tied to Edward in every way possible by the end of the day.

Ever since they had come back from Italy, they've been spending as much time as they could with Elizabeth. Even though Edward and Bella had already moved into their new house. Bella understood his need to be around his family, and came with him when he needed her, which was necessary for a while. Elizabeth had been rapidly declining in health, and Carlisle was constantly coming in and out of the house to check on her. She had gotten to the point where it was hard for her to get around and she was throwing up all the time. She felt miserable. But she kept putting on a brave face for her children.

Edward was the only one who knew what was really going on with her. He had been doing so well with his progression since they came home, a few weeks ago. It had been a short time, but he was making leaps and bounds everyday. He was hearing pretty much everyone and everything around him now. So he knew exactly how bad Elizabeth had been getting. Which he really didn't want to tell Rosalie and Jasper about, but he knew that they had a right to that information, just as much as he did. She was their mother, too.

He was also finally able to be around people without needing to be held back. Most nights now, he was able to go over to his mother's house to stay there for a while, without anyone having to come with him. He makes sure he feeds enough when he goes there, whether it's regular food, or animal blood. He has come to figure out that he much more prefers blood to food. Whereas Bella, Emmett and Alice were fairly evenly tolerable of both. The three of them were fine if they ever had to go without a hunting trip, to eat food. Edward got antsy and paced because blood was more of what he craved. They weren't sure if it was just because he was so new to being a vampire, or if it was just his preference in general. They had never dealt with any others like themselves, so it was a learning experience. He was still being home schooled, since they were just now working up to larger groups of people for him to be around. He had his limit and couldn't be around more than about twenty people at the time, before he needed to leave the room. But he was getting there. All in all though, he was doing exceedingly well.

Bella and Edward had talked to Jasper and Rosalie. They still were undecided on whether they were ready to join the vampire world yet, or not. Although Rosalie had become much closer to Emmett, and Jasper to Alice, they wanted to make certain that they were doing the right thing. Bella and Edward had told them about the powerful sovereigns, and they realized they had a responsibility to it. But they needed to let their relationships grow more with Emmett and Alice before they were ready.

Rosalie was pretty sure of her choice to join Emmett. They had grown exceedingly closer over time and Emmett was fiercely protective of her. Rosalie always felt safe with him.

Jasper and Alice were growing closer each day, too. They were the best parts of the other. Always knew when something was bothering the other, was able to get their spirits back up if they were down, and just got each other in every way. They spent almost all of their time together and Jasper even tolerated Alice's shopping 'habit', as he liked to call her addiction.

There was a knock at the door, just before Esme stepped in.

"Oh Bella. You look so beautiful. I still can't get over your dress." Esme gushed as she came over to help Bella finish her hair.

"Thanks mom. Alice did a great job with it. Will you put this in for me?" Bella asked as she handed Esme a silver hair comb to put in the back.

Bella and Alice had designed the dress together and Alice made it. It was Bella's vision come to life.

It was A-line, long sleeves, with delicate lace at the cuffs. The back had scrolling, sheer lace to the bottom of her back. There was a line of buttons going from the top of the dress, all the way to the bottom of the train. It was streamlined and simple, elegant. She had a simple, long veil in the back of her hair where her hair comb had been placed.

"Bella? Are you ready, sweetheart?" Carlisle asked, as he poked his head into the room.

"Yeah, dad. Did Elizabeth make it?" She asked, hoping everyone would be present at their wedding today.

"Yes. I just sat her down out in the meadow. She's having a good day, so far. Nothing too drastic. You look so lovely, Bella. That dress suits you so well. I didn't ever think that I would walk you down the aisle. With how our kind is, we never know when or if we'll find our mates. But you found yours, my dear. And I couldn't be happier for you, honey." He walked up to her and kissed her cheek.

She smiled at him. "Thanks. Is everything ready?"

"Everything is perfect. It's all simple, just like you both wanted. The flowers are scattered around, the arch is in place, and everyone is already out there. We're the last ones. Are you ready to get married?" Carlisle grinned widely, as Esme came to his side.

Bella couldn't keep the excitement off of her face. "Definitely!"

Carlisle and Esme chuckled, and walked her out to the back yard. Esme went ahead of Carlisle and Bella to make sure everyone was in place and ready, and so Bella could be walked down the aisle by her father.

As they made their way to the meadow, Bella could feel the anticipation building. When they rounded the corner of the meadow, she felt the air rush out of her. The meadow was already a beautiful and magical place. But with the added flowers scattered around the ground, and the flower covered arch serving as the alter, made it look even more magnificent. But the thing that made her stop in her tracks was the site of Edward standing under the arch in his tux. He was breathtaking.

When Edward set eyes on Bella, his smile could have lit up the whole state of Washington. Bella was always beautiful to him, but in a gorgeous white dress and a veil, she was stunning. He couldn't have felt more like the luckiest guy in the world then he did at that moment.

As Bella made her way down the aisle to Edward, they both felt the magnetic pull they've always had. It was pulling her right down the aisle towards his waiting hand.

Once there, Carlisle kissed Bella's cheek and placed her hand into Edward's, and took his place in front of them.

**You look absolutely gorgeous, Bells.** Edward thought to her.

**You don't look so bad yourself, handsome.** She smiled at him.

"We're gathered today to join together, Edward and Bella. Since its just family, we'll get to the important stuff. Edward, I know you wanted to say a few vows." Carlisle said, motioning for him to go on.

Edward turned to look at Bella, face to face, taking both of her hands in his.

"Bella. My sweet beauty. I've called you 'my challenger' before. You've always been somewhat of a challenger to me. When we couldn't figure out what was going on when we first met, when things were rough getting to know each other and our families, when we were Italy, through my change. You always challenged me in the best ways. You made me better, and you were the calming force in a tough spot. But I'm so glad that it happened. I've never been as happy as I am, knowing that I have someone that loves me, craziness and all, and that I can share that side of my life with. You truly are what makes me whole. I love you so much. And I promise to love you every single moment of forever."

Bella let a single tear run down her face as she listened to him. She felt it all coming from him. Every ounce of love and loyalty.

"Bella, go ahead." Carlisle urged.

"Edward. I swear that first day that I saw your eyes flash to a gold color, it scared me to death. But I wasn't scared of you. Just of what might happen if things ever went wrong, considering we had never come across anything like you before. But it's a case of 'don't judge a book by its cover'. Thank God I tried to figure out what you were. I found this amazing, wonderful man that happened to be a witch. I quickly started falling for you that first day. The day I changed you, scared me even worse. I wasn't sure if I would make it in time, but when you were stable, I started to feel… relief. I was just so happy that you were ok and that you were finally like me. Ever since you said you wanted to be one of us, I couldn't wait to share what this life holds with you. You know how long I've waited for you, and now that I've finally got you, I'm never letting you go. Craziness and all." She smiled at him and everyone chuckled. "Even though we have plenty of that in our world, too. I love you."

"Edward, take the ring, place it on Bella's finger, and repeat after me. I, Edward Anthony Masen, take you, Isabella Marie Cullen, to be my wedded wife" "I_, Edward Anthony Masen, take you, Isabella Marie Cullen_, _to be my wedded wife_" "my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward." "_My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward." _"In the presence of God, our family and friends," "_In the presence of God, our family and friends," "_I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow." "_I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow."_ "I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals," "_I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals,"_ "to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you," "_to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you," _"and to cherish you forever." "_And to cherish you forever."_

"Bella, take the ring, place it on Edward's finger, and repeat after me, dear. I, Isabella Marie Cullen, take you, Edward Anthony Masen, to be my wedded husband." "_I, Isabella Marie Cullen, take you, Edward Anthony Masen, to be my wedded husband."_ "My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward." "_My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward." _"In the presence of God, our family and friends," "_In the presence of God, our family and friends," "_I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow." "_I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow."_ "I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals," "_I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals,"_ "to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you," "_to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you," _"and to cherish you forever." "_And to cherish you forever."_

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. Edward, you may kiss your bride." Carlisle said, with a huge smile.

"Gladly." Edward grinned, and pulled Bella into his arms and kissed her, sweetly but with passion.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Masen." Carlisle presented the new couple, and everyone cheered loudly.

Edward and Bella were passed around to their family to receive congratulations and hugs.

They held a small reception back at Carlisle and Esme's house. Nothing big, more like a family get together to celebrate.

Elizabeth was feeling weak, so Carlisle decided to drive her home. She promised Edward, Rosalie and Jasper that she would be fine, she just needed to rest. She wanted her children to enjoy the rest of the party.

They all talked and laughed. Edward and Bella had planned for a small trip when spring break came around for their honeymoon. They didn't want to raise any suspicions around town yet.

Emmett and Rosalie had planned a little camping trip for spring break, themselves. They wanted time to be alone and get to know each other better. Rosalie wasn't ready for anything too physical yet, but she wanted to at least spend some time working on them.

Alice and Jasper decided that they wanted to take a trip to Seattle for spring break. Alice, of course, wanted to go shopping. And Jasper wanted to take the opportunity to find out Alice's thoughts on him becoming a vampire one day. They hadn't talked at length about it, and while it was just the two of them, he wanted to get her opinion. He was pretty certain he wanted to join them. But if Alice was against it, he wasn't sure what he would do. Alice understood the Sovereign aspect of what could potentially come about, but hadn't gone from there, yet. She had only talked to Bella, so far.

Edward and Bella finally bid their family goodbye after a beautiful and fun evening. They made their way back to their new house, so they could spend their first night together as Mr. and Mrs. Masen.

They couldn't keep their hands off each other as they made their way in the front door. Once it was shut, Edward had Bella pushed up against the wall beside it.

"Tell me something, Bella." Edward tangled his fingers in her hair, making her tilt her head to the side so he could bit down on her neck, earning a whimper of pleasure from her. "How does it feel to be Mrs. Masen?"

A shiver of desire ran down Bella's back at that. Just hearing him call her that, made her want him so badly. All she could articulate was a loud moan.

One of Edward's hands moved down Bella's body so he could squeeze her ass while nibbling on her neck again. "You like it when I call you that, don't you?"

She only nodded. Edward's eyes sparkled with amusement and desire at her lack of words. She was usually more able to vocalize, but she seemed at a loss right now. This was cute to him.

He bit down on her neck again and a gasp escaped Bella's mouth at the same time her whole body shuddered. She couldn't help it; it was a natural reaction to what he did to her. He had her completely alert and ready just like that.

"I want to feel your mouth on me, Bella."

This had never been her favorite sexual act but she had enjoyed pleasuring him with her mouth the first time she tried it so she was willing to try it again.

She leaned in for a quick kiss before slowly dropping to her knees. She looked up at Edward through her eyelashes then almost as if she was waiting for him to tell her exactly what he wanted and how he wanted.

All he did was undo his tux pants and let them fall to the floor.

Bella moaned in appreciation and licked her lips before reaching for his boxer briefs, releasing his erection from its confines.

Edward actually hissed when Bella wrapped her hand around his impressive erection. He was completely hard for her already, something she appreciated.

She licked her lips once more before moving her hands to his waist and sticking her tongue out so she could slowly run it from his base to tip. Edward groaned as she did that and one of his hands flew to her head which caused her to moan a little.

Bella used her tongue to tease Edward's tip, taking more of him inside her mouth when his hips started to buck slowly. He was big and hard and surprisingly tasty.

Edward used the hand that was on Bella's head to tug on her hair lightly, pulling out her veil and the pins that were holding it up. He urged her to start moving in time with his slow thrusts. Her full, soft lips and her talented mouth could make him go crazy.

Bella took more of him in her mouth, moaning deeply from around him as her hand moved to his balls so she could squeeze them lightly, increasing the pleasure she was already providing him with.

Edward's free hand went to the wall behind Bella so he could steady himself. His body was shaking already.

"Fuck, Bella. Just like that…"

Bella closed her mouth more tightly around him and started to bob it up and down his length. He knew he wouldn't last for too long like this.

Bella knew the effect she was having on him and she loved the fact that he was losing control because of her. It more was empowering than she could have ever imagined.

Knowing he was too close already and not wanting to reach his release without her, Edward tightened his grip on Bella's hair and tugged on it making her look up at him through her long eyelashes while still sucking him.

"Get up here, beautiful…"

Bella obediently let go of him with a pop but not before sucking him once more, making his vision actually blur for a second.

She opened her mouth to say something but before she could, Edward crushed his lips to hers, pressing her against the wall once more. When they pulled back for air, he trailed his lips down to throat, nibbling and sucking on the skin there.

"You're incredible, Bella." Before she could do anything but sigh his mouth had claimed hers again in a deep kiss. "I hope you're not fond of this dress…" He said at the same time his hands tugged on her dress.

"Aw, Edward… Alice spent so much time on this dress… Damn it, go ahead…"

One more tug and, in a matter of seconds, her dress was on the ground, pooling at her feet and she was standing in front of him wearing only her little white panties.

He dropped his head to her breasts and captured one of her nipples in his mouth, sucking greedily on it while pinching her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Bella couldn't help but moan loudly as all the heat coursing through her body traveled down and pooled between her legs.

She tried to rub her thighs together but that only served to increase the throbbing between her legs. When Edward placed his leg between hers, brushing her center she purred in delight.

Her movements became a little erratic after that as she tried to touch every inch of Edward she had access to. She moved her hand lower so she could cup his erection, taking advantage of the fact his pants were on the floor. He was still hard for her.

As if wanting to make sure she was indeed completely wet for him, Edward slipped a hand between Bella's quivering thighs.

His long, talented fingers found her warm center. As Bella grabbed onto Edward's shoulder for support he pushed her panties aside and moved his fingers over her sensitive bundle of nerves, applying a delicious pressure that made her cry out in pleasure.

He slowly stroked her a few times, enjoying the way her breathing hitched and her lips parted, before moving his fingers inside of her and using his thumb to keep on teasing her sensitive clit.

Her grip on him tightened and she couldn't do anything else but moan and enjoy the waves of pleasure coursing through her whole body. The way he kept on sucking on her breasts while moving his fingers in and out of her pussy was sure to drive her to a very intense orgasm.

When she was dangerously close to her release, Edward stopped and leaned in to kiss her mouth. The hand that was between her legs stopped moving but before Bella had the chance to complain, Edward had shredded her panties.

She tugged on his shirt and it was quickly in shreds on the floor, next to her dress.

Suddenly, as if she weighted nothing, he boosted her up; shoes still on her feet, against the wall.

Edward lowered her on his thick erection, making her gasp at the feeling of him moving slowly inside of her, spreading her open completely. All she could think once he was inside of her was about how he perfectly filled her.

He kissed her deeply then and once he started moving, his eyes locked on hers. Bella automatically wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing him to move impossibly deeper inside of her.

He picked up his pace, swallowing Bella's moans and cries of pleasure.

It didn't take long for both of them to near their releases. Their rhythm kept on increasing, even when it seemed it was impossible, until they were both panting and moaning each other's names in between gasps.

Bella gave in to the sensations her body was feeling as Edward moved fast and deep inside of her.

She came with a loud cry she was sure people down the street could hear. She didn't care about it, though.

Edward reached his peak just as Bella did. She felt his fingers sink in the skin of her ass as he reached his own release.

He buried his face on her neck then and kept on moving in and out of her, giving them both the opportunity to ride out the waves of their releases.

After a few moments, she was able to unwrap herself from around him so he could lower her to the floor.

Edward kissed her and kept caressing her skin until they both stopped panting for air and regained some of the ability to think straight again.

They kissed once more before Edward pulled back slightly and rested his forehead against Bella's. He nuzzled her nose and smiled widely.

"Ready for round two, Mrs. Masen?" Edward asked smugly.

Bella let out a growl and lunged for Edward, attaching her lips to his.

* * *

><p>Yay for wedding fun! Ok, so, good, bad, ugly, indifferent? Anyone?<p>

Reviews are like love. Leave me some. :P

I'm working on a second chapter to 'The Greatest Man I Never Knew'. so if you haven't read it, please do. It made me cry when I wrote it. And I had a request for more on it, so I'm in the process.

Laters!


	28. Chapter 28

Hey all! I know, I know. Don't say it. It's been a while. Dealing with everything after the holidays and writing a longer chapter took me a little longer.

But maybe this chapter will make up for it.

As usual, Lola is my beta, and is tots awesome. ('A thousand years' was nominated for a sunflower award (Neither of us know what it is, but ok.) go read and vote for it, please.)

SM owns Twilight, sadly not I.

Read on!

* * *

><p>Chapter 27<p>

Jasper came out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him with a heavy sigh, after he had collected himself. He walked down the hall of their house and into the living room, where everyone was gathered, with somber expressions on their faces. He walked into the living room where Carlisle, Edward, Bella, Rosalie, Alice and Emmett all waited. As soon as they saw him, with a deep sigh he whispered "She's gone."

Edward's head fell as Bella held him to her. Rosalie started crying and burrowed into Emmett's chest. Alice rushed to Jasper's side and pulled him to her, as well.

Carlisle made his way down the hall to Elizabeth's room, he squeezed Jasper's should as he passed by.

It had been six months since Edward and Bella's wedding. Elizabeth had been getting progressively worse. There was very little that anyone could do to make her comfortable, and she had started slipping away a few days prior. Everyone had gathered at the Masen house and stayed with her, letting her know she wasn't alone in her last moments.

Elizabeth's failing health wasn't the only thing to happen in the past six months. A few months back, Rosalie had almost been killed…

_~Flashback~_

_Emmett and Rosalie were on their camping trip over spring break. They had gone up into the mountains where there were trails and lots of waterfalls. The trees were thick and lush and they both were having an amazing time exploring._

_Emmett had gone for a quick hunt because he didn't want to leave Rosalie alone in the wilderness for too long. _

_Rosalie was staying close to their campsite so she didn't get lost or run into any wild animals. _

_But that didn't stop the bear that wondered into their campsite, looking for food, and found Rosalie. _

_She tried to stay hidden and quiet, but when the bear started tearing up the tent, she started freaking out and the bear attacked her. _

_Emmett wasn't that far away, and could hear Rosalie's screams. He was in the middle of chasing a mountain lion when he heard it._

"_EEEMMMMMMMM! HELP MEEE! EEEEEMMMMMMMMMMM!" She screamed._

_Emmett stopped in his tracks and bolted back to where he left Rosalie, running as fast as he could._

_Rosalie tried to step back and away from the bear every time it advanced on her, but it wouldn't give up. _

_The bear was getting impatient and attacked Rosalie. She let out a blood curdling scream as the bear's teeth tore into her skin._

_Emmett felt tears brimming in his eyes when he heard that scream, and pushed himself even harder to make it back to her. _

_But when he finally made it to her, he wasn't sure if she was unconscious. All he saw was that she wasn't moving and the bear was about to start feasting. Emmett saw red and lunged for the bear, knocking it to the ground. Emmett rolled around on the ground with the bear until he got his hands around its neck and killed it. _

_He rushed to Rosalie's side and saw her eyes were still closed. He picked her up, and took off back towards Forks._

"_Stay with me baby. Don't leave me. Come on, Rosie." He kept chanting to her as he ran._

_He finally made it back to Forks, and Esme and Carlisle's house was the first one he came across. _

"_Emmett?" Carlisle questioned when he heard one of them coming through the woods, and opened the back door. He wasn't sure what was going on. _

_Carlisle saw an unconscious Rosalie in his arms. "Oh no…" He said, then ushered Emmett inside and up the stairs._

_Carlisle was on the phone with Bella and Edward as they made their way into the spare bedroom._

"_Dad? What's going on?" Bella asked when she answered._

"_Put me on speakerphone. I need to talk to both you and Edward." Carlisle spoke, as Emmett laid Rosalie on the bed._

"_Ok dad, we're both here. What's up?" Bella asked, worry laced in her voice._

"_Bells, its Rosie. She was attacked by a bear. I don't know if she's gonna make it. I need to know what to do." Emmett urged, trying to keep his composure, as best he could._

_Bella gasped through the phone, while Edward cursed. _

_There was a short silence over the phone, and Emmett was about to start yelling at them, when Edward finally spoke._

"_Em, change her. If there's no hope of saving her, then do it. Just don't let her die."_

"_Are you sure, man? Don't you want to talk to your mom or something, to make sure?" Emmett asked, hoping they could get this done before Rosalie slipped away._

"_Emmett, just do it. She'll understand. We'll call her and let her know what's going on, and we'll get a flight back down there. It won't take that long to get there. We may run if we can't get an early flight." Edward said, his voice filled with nervousness._

"_Dad, if Emmett can't do it, then you're going to have to-" Bella started but Emmett cut her off._

"_I can do it, Bells. In fact, I'm gonna do it now." Emmett said, and then leaned over Rosalie's still form. _

_He pulled what was left of her shirt collar, down from her neck, brought his teeth to her neck and bit her. He went ahead with the changing process, injecting his venom into her system, and hopefully making her one of them. He bit several different spots over her body, trying to get as much venom into her as possible._

_Edward had gotten his phone and called their mother._

"_Edward? I thought you and Bella were on your honeymoon. Is everything alright?" Elizabeth's weak voice came through the phone._

"_Uhh, mom. Rose was attacked by a bear on their camping trip. She's not looking good, and Emmett has to change her. If you want, I can get Carlisle to come get you so you can be with her for a while." _

"_Oh god…" There was a long pause while Elizabeth tried to let things sink in; that her daughter's life was hanging in the balance. "Ummm, yeah, I want to be there with her. Is he going to be able to come get me? I don't want to burden him." Elizabeth's voice rang with tears. _

"_Mom, of course he'll come get you. You're her mother. He understands that. Bella's working on getting us a flight back, but if we can't get out of Anchorage in a few hours, we'll run back. Either way, we'll be there to help when she wakes up. Don't worry too much, mom. We're going to get her through it. I turned out fine, and knowing her, she's just as strong. She'll pull through. I gotta go, mom. But I'm calling Carlisle back right now and he'll be there to get you." Edward said, and quickly ended his call. _

_Bella couldn't find a quick flight back to Washington. So she and Edward made arrangements to have their stuff shipped home from Alaska, and took off on foot._

_Carlisle had gone and picked Elizabeth up and brought her back to be with Rosalie. _

"_Elizabeth, I want you to prepare yourself for what she's going to look like. The bear did a number on her, so she doesn't quite look like herself, right now. But as the change goes on, she'll start to look more like herself, and then more like us. We've cleaned her up as best as we could, but she's still a little… mangled." Carlisle spoke lowly to her._

_She was shaking with tears coming down her face as they walked down the hall. _

"_Do you really think I should do this? I don't know if I can handle seeing her like this, after what you've told me…" She trailed off, wondering if her mind would be able withstand that kind of harsh image. _

"_Liz, if you want, I can set you up in the room next to her, until she doesn't look so rough. We'll keep you updated on her. But this is up to you." Carlisle told her as they stopped outside of the room Rosalie was in. They could hear what sounded like crying coming from the room._

"_I don't know what to do… I want to be with her, but I'm scared of what I'll see… No, I can't. Not yet." Elizabeth could barely get out, she was shaking so much. Carlisle had to finally sit her in a chair in the hallway._

"_You need to calm yourself down before we do anything else, Liz. Your heart rate is too high right now." Carlisle told her in a calming voice, and waited for a few moments. "Good. Now, why don't we go into, what will be your room? You can try to rest and I'll come back and update you on how she's doing."_

_Elizabeth nodded and Carlisle walked her into her room. Esme was finishing putting a few things out for Elizabeth's stay._

_While Elizabeth got situated, Carlisle went back to Rosalie and Emmett._

"_How does it look, son?" Carlisle asked as he walked up behind him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder._

_Emmett took a deep breath. "She doesn't look like my Rosie, right now. She's so still and weak. I'm scared that there was too much damage for the venom to work. But she seems to be holding on." He said in a whisper. _

"_I think you got her here just in time, Em. Much longer and she probably would have lost too much blood. She's not getting any worse since you got back tells me she might pull through. Just keep doing what you're doing."_

_As the day went on, Emmett stayed by Rosalie's side. She didn't seem to be changing much, to begin with. But several hours after Emmett brought her back, he started noticing subtle changes in her. Her blood didn't smell the same, some of her injuries seemed to be slowly healing, and some of the color in her skin looked like it was becoming more like Emmett's._

_Bella and Edward came in, not long after Em had started to notice the changes. Both of them went straight to Emmett and Rosalie._

"_How's she doing?" Edward asked as he walked in._

_Emmett turned to look over his shoulder at him. "I think I was able to save her. Look at her. She's already changing from how she was earlier."_

_Edward looked at Rosalie, then into Emmett's mind as he was going back over what she looked like when he brought her back. And he could tell a difference, as well._

"_You're right. I think its working. It may just be a little slower than my change. It's been what… five hours since it happened? Four and a half since you bit her?" Edward asked as he sat on the other side of the bed._

_Emmett only nodded._

"_Em, its working. Don't worry so much. You got to her in time." Bella whispered, putting her hands on his shoulders._

"_It's my fault. I left her alone to go hunt and the bear came up and attacked her. She was so… still when I found her… She was so damn mangled that I thought she was already dead. If I hadn't heard her faint heartbeat… I would have been so crushed, Bellsy." Emmett berated himself._

"_Hey, no, it's not your fault. It could have happened to anyone, or at anytime. Don't beat yourself up about this. I know it's a sick way of going about it, but it could have been the universe's way of pushing her into being one of us. She's already been through so much, and then this had to happen to her…" Bella shook her head to dispel the thought. "She'll make it. She's strong willed."_

"_Bells, I swore I would always protect her. That I'd never let anything hurt her again…" _

"_Emmett, stop. We all swore that we'd protect her. We can't always be by their sides, unless we're attached at the hip. Edward was bitten right in front of me. I swore, on my existence, that I would never let anything harm him. And it happened. You know how much I beat myself up about it, too. But it happened. We'll be there, to guide her, and make sure she can handle what our world entails. Stop berating yourself. You did what you had to when you found her. You saved her. We'll take whatever comes next and deal with it." Bella soothed him. Hoping that he would calm down some._

_Emmett hung his head. "I'm sorry, Bellsy…"_

"_Shhh. Don't. We're here, and we always will be… I think I hear Alice and Jasper coming up the driveway. I'm a little surprised they weren't the first ones here." Bella said, rubbing his shoulders._

"_We couldn't get ahold of Ali for a while. They were out in the city and Carlisle just got in touch with them a couple of hours ago. They left as soon as they could. And from the sounds of it, Alice is driving." Emmett smirked. He could always tell if it was Alice. She was more of a maniac driver than any of them._

_Alice and Jasper breezed through the front door of the house, not bothering with closing it. Then both rushed down the hall to where they were all in the room with Rosalie._

"_Has anything changed? Is she alright? Oh shit…" Jasper asked, frantically as he ran into the room and saw her. He was shocked out of his mind at her state, and was scared to even let his breath out._

_Bella walked over to him. "She's doing ok, so far. There's been at least a little change from when Em brought her in, but it's going to take a while, since… you can see how bad her injuries are…" She whispered the last part._

_Edward stood from his spot by Rosalie and let Jasper come to her side._

"_Did you change her?" Jasper asked Emmett, both of them holding each of Rosalie's hands in their own._

"_Yeah… As soon as I brought her back here and we got Edward on the phone, I went ahead and bit her. But we all think it's going to take a good while longer than Edward's transformation did. She, obviously, has more injuries, and I'm hoping it'll be enough in the long run… So all we have to do is wait." _

_And that's what they did. They waited for four days. In which Elizabeth finally found the strength to go into the room to see her daughter. And when she did, she broke down crying even more than when she first found out._

_She went in when Rosalie was more recognizable. But she was still so broken. Elizabeth ended up walking back out of the room, saying she couldn't handle seeing her like that again._

_Once they all saw that she was, in fact, changing into a vampire, they relaxed a little more. Things weren't quite as tense. _

_Emmett constantly stayed by her side, never leaving, even for a moment. _

_Jasper had to at least sleep a little, but it was limited to a few hours at the time. But when he wasn't sleeping, he was there with Rosalie, too. _

_Edward spent as much time as he could there, as well. On the second day, he ended up having to go hunting. They had been waiting when they were in Alaska to hunt on the day that they left. But rushing home, and then being around Jasper and their mother, he had to do something. _

_Carlisle was constantly checking on Rosalie's progress. Each time, he was happy to see that she was slowly becoming like them. He had feared that things would go the other way, but didn't want to voice his concern. Even he knew they had cut it close when Emmett came through the back door. _

_On the fourth day, it was late in the afternoon when they heard Rosalie's heart begin to slow to a crawl, and then finally stop._

_Jasper had taken Elizabeth back to their house, and only Emmett, Edward, Bella, Carlisle and Esme were in the room with Rosalie._

_Rosalie finally looked like herself, only so much more beautiful. The faint coloring of her skin, the reddening of her lips, the perfect smoothness of her skin where there had been gaping gashes in it. She was utter perfection._

_**Please let her open her eyes… I need to see her baby blues… if they're still blue. God, I hope they're still blue. I couldn't imagine them any other way.**__ Emmett's thoughts were rambling._

"_Emmett, you're seriously asking about my eyes right now?" Rosalie asked, as she slowly opened her eyes._

"…_What?" Emmett asked, confused as to how she knew._

"_Rose, what are you talking about? Emmett didn't say anything. We were all just waiting for you to wake up. What do you remember?" Edward asked, trying to assess what was going on with his sister. He had a feeling that he knew what it was, though. _

_Rosalie sat up quickly, not noticing the fast movement, and looked around the room._

"_Why are you guys looking at me like that? And… I thought we were all- wait… Em…" She started, but then her eyes widened when she remembered. "The bear… oh god… how am I alive?"_

"_Rosie…" Emmett started, but Rosalie cut him off._

"_Tell me. It happened, didn't it? I don't feel normal…"_

"_Yes. When I made it back to you, I rushed back here, as fast as I could. There was so much blood and there was too much damage to your body. So I went ahead and bit you so I could save you… Please don't hate me, Rosie…" Emmett trailed off._

"_Oh Em." Rosalie sighed and lunged for Emmett, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I could never hate you…I love you." She whispered._

"_I love you, too, baby." Emmett breathed. "I was so scared I was gonna lose you.""I know. I heard you asking me to stay with you. It kept going over and over in my head. And I saw you when you came back and pulled the bear off of me. You were so brave."_

_Carlisle cleared his throat behind them. "Sorry, but we need to make sure everything is ok with her. After everything that happened to her, it will take some time to adjust."_

_They both nodded and Carlisle went to work checking her over. She seemed to be perfectly fine. No lingering effects from her attack._

"_Rosalie, let me ask you this. Why did you say something to Emmett about him asking about your eyes? We never heard him say anything." Carlisle asked, hoping they could figure out this new development._

_Rosalie just looked at him, not understanding what was going on._

"_I think I may know what happened…" Edward interjected._

"_Really?" Bella asked, looking over at him. Then she saw what was in his head, and it suddenly made sense. She just nodded._

"_Rosalie is hearing Emmett's thoughts." Edward explained, simply. _

"_WHAT? How the hell am I doing that?" Rosalie asked, completely shocked. She jumped up from her spot and started pacing, fast. That is until Emmett stood and wrapped an arm around her to stop her nervous energy._

"_You really think that's what it is?" Emmett asked._

"_Were you thinking about her eyes before she said that?" Edward asked and Emmett nodded. "Then I don't really see any other options here. It's not really outside of the realm of possibilities. Maybe Bella and I were the first push for this to all happen with everyone else. It's entirely possible that you could both hear each other's thoughts. Do you guys want to try it? Em, it shouldn't be new to you at all. Only the person you're listening to." Edward explained. It made perfect sense to him. _

_Emmett and Rosalie looked and focused on each other. Emmett had no problem hearing her after knowing that it was a possibility. It was instant._

_**What the hell is going on? How is this even possible? We're not like Bella and Edward. Well, guess you are, Em. But I'm not. I'm just me. Please tell me you can hear me…**__ Rosalie thought, hoping, both, that they could hear each other, and not. It worried her what it would mean if it ended up that, in the end, they could all hear each other._

_**Yes, I can hear you. Don't freak out about all of this. It's just something else to get used to. You'll learn more about this and being one of us at the same time… You may hear things you don't want to, either…**__ Emmett thought to her, smirking at the last part._

_Rosalie quickly slapped him on the arm, hard._

"_Ouch! Damn it, Rosie! I was just kidding… kind of… ok, not really. You oughta know that by now, babe." Emmett smiled at her._

_Rosalie just smiled back. She loved his crazy, silly, unfiltered nature sometimes. It was endearing and made her feel like things weren't always serious._

"_Rose, please don't go there. I don't want to hear it. Let's get you out of here so you can hunt, then we'll start with the other stuff. Deal?" Edward suggested, looking around at everyone in the room._

_They all nodded and headed for the door. _

_Edward stopped Rosalie before she made it out the door. He looked her over and smiled down at her. "This life looks good on you, Ro."_

_Rosalie smile and hugged him. "Thanks big brother."_

_~End flashback~_

After that day, Rosalie stayed with Emmett and his family. Rosalie was slowly introduced back to humans; mostly just Jasper and their mother. It was a harder task for her to resist than it was for Edward, which frustrated her. But with time, she was getting the hang of it. There were a few times when she had to be detained because she couldn't control her urge for blood. After a while, the craving was somewhat sustainable. And she tried to visit with Elizabeth as much as she could.

Elizabeth's health kept declining until she was put on bed rest, indefinitely. Carlisle didn't want her to overdo anything.

With the passing weeks, Edward, Jasper and Rosalie started saying their goodbyes. They knew it would be any day when Elizabeth wouldn't wake up. And as the time got closer and closer, they all decided they would stay at the house with her.

Earlier in the night, Elizabeth asked the three of them to come into her room.

_~Flashback~_

_Edward, Jasper and Rosalie were each sitting on the side of their mother's bed, waiting for her to speak. It had gotten harder and harder for her to articulate what she wanted to, so they had to be patient with her. _

"_I want… you all to remember… what I told… you. I want you… to be happy… and to be… safe. You can… do the ritual… at the river… at Carlisle and Esme's… It's at least… private enough… where no one will bother you… I love you all… so, so much." Elizabeth spoke slowly and weakly._

_Edward, Jasper and Rosalie all leaned over to Elizabeth and hugged her tightly._

"_We love you too, mom. We'll always remember you." Edward whispered to her._

_They took turns staying with her. Rosalie was only able to spend so much time with her, or Jasper for that matter, so they decided to spend whatever time they could with her. Sometimes they would read to her, Edward or Rosalie would tell her about what it was like to be a vampire and still being a witch. Most of the time, they would just sit with her, not talking. Just being there._

_It meant more to Elizabeth than anyone would ever know. _

_As time went on, she started slowing down. And on the final day, she was only awake for a total of two hours. Jasper was in for his time with her when she took her last breath._

_~End flashback~_

Now, as they make their way through the Cullen's back yard, it's quiet. Not sad and somber, but reflective.

Bella had been worrying the whole afternoon.

**Edward, are you sure you want the rest of us to be there for this? I mean, isn't this a private thing for you all? I feel like we're intruding on a sacred moment.** She thought to him as she walked beside him.

**Bells, it's fine. I know she would have wanted you all to be here for this. You're family. And I want you guys all here to witness this. It's part of who we are, so we want to share it. Don't worry so much. **He thought back as they reached the edge of the river.

Bella nodded and walked over to stand with her parents and Alice and Emmett by the tree line.

Emmett had carried Elizabeth's body down to the water's edge and laid her gently on the ground, situated so the water was to the west. Edward carried a large rock, and placed it to the north, around Elizabeth's body. Rosalie carried a feather to represent air, and laid it to the east. And Jasper carried a candle and laid it to the south. All of these things represented the earth and were part of the Wiccan ritual.

Edward, Jasper and Rosalie each stood between each of the things they had laid on the ground, with Edward standing across from the river, and Jasper standing between the candle and river. And Rosalie stood between the river and the rock.

The three of them were quiet for a few moments.

After a while, Edward, Jasper and Rosalie raised their arms out to the sides while Edward spoke.

"Blood of my blood Bone of my bone Flesh of my flesh Keep thy soul alive You will live on Within our hearts Until your return

Keep watch over us

Body return to the earth

Soul be reborn

So mote it be"

"So mote it be" Jasper and Rosalie repeated after Edward, bringing their hands together, swiftly in a clap.

All at once, there was a whooshing sound, a large cloud and a spark, and Elizabeth was gone.

Bella and the rest of them gasped. None of them were expecting that from the ritual.

"What happened?" Bella whispered to no one in particular.

Edward had his head hung, then turned to look at her.

"She's gone. To be reborn. She could be anything or anyone, and it could be at anytime. It won't be instantaneous. But at some point, she will be reborn into the world."

* * *

><p>I know, it was a lot to put into one chapter, but that's how I had to do it. Yes I did condense some of it, but it just helped it flow better for me.<p>

Yes I had flashbacks in this one. And I'll probably have one in the next chapter. We're gonna get rolling in the next chapter, at least I hope. I just started writing it, and I think it's gonna be pretty good.

Yes, my vampires (Bella, Emmett, Alice, and now Rose and Edward) can cry. Not like normal people, the tears they shed are basically venom. But Esme and Carlisle and such, can't cry.

And I don't know anything about Wiccan rituals, this one I just researched some different things and came up with something that fit into my story. It's all a part of fiction. So don't gripe to me that I'm an idiot. But I will take reviews and comments on the chapter.


	29. Chapter 29

You guys….. I have no words. I'm sooooooooo sorry I haven't updated in so long. The worst case of writer's block, work, RL, a long ass chapter, and that all adds up to this really long wait. But, I'm hoping it was all worth it in the end. I think this is the longest chapter I've ever done.

I can't thank Lola (LaurieWhitlock), my wonderful beta, and awesomesauce friend, enough for working on this with me. She's been a huuuuuggggge help throughout this whole story. Muahs!

And SM obviously owns it. Not I, sadlyL BUT I DO OWN A COPY OF BREAKING DAWN, PART 1! Lol

Anywhoozles, I'll see you all at the bottom for some important info.

Onward!

* * *

><p>Chapter 28<p>

They were all running through the woods, chasing after the vampire that fled.

It had been a few weeks since they had noticed the problem, and finally decided to take action.

They weren't thinking they would have to deal with something so huge this soon, but it obviously had to be taken care of. People's lives were at risk in their town. They didn't want anyone else to die. So they found themselves chasing them now. Garrett, Kate, Peter, Charlotte, Carlisle, Esme, Edward, Bella, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice… and Jasper.

_~Flashback~_

_It all started when a vampire came into town. She was scoping out the town during the night, when Bella and Edward came across her._

_They were running through the woods, on their way to hunt, when she jumped across a ridge before they came to it._

_They both decided to follow her and see where she was going to. _

_When she came up to the Cullen house, they watched her closely. _

_She stood there, watching Esme and Carlisle around the house. Not much else, but she seemed like she was gathering information._

_She took off into the trees again, and Edward and Bella followed her. The direction she went in was towards the McCarty house. When she got there, she did the same thing. Bella didn't like that she was going around to each of their homes, and scouting out who was there. It made her really uneasy._

_She saw that Emmett and Rosalie were home, so she wanted to give them a heads up._

_**Em, we've got a situation. There's a vampire scoping out each of our houses. I don't know if she's just curious, but I don't like it. Stay alert and we're going to follow her.**_

_She thought to him when his head snapped up. He didn't want to be obvious and look towards the woods, but couldn't help but perk up at the information._

_**I want to know as soon as you do. **__He thought back, and then went back to talking to Rosalie._

_Bella and Edward stayed there, watching her, again. Bella didn't want her to know they were there, so they weren't quite close enough for Edward to get a read on her thoughts, very clearly. _

_**Bella, I need to try and see what she's thinking. We can't be blind to whatever it is that she's planning. It could be nothing, but I don't want to take that chance. **__Edward thought to her, as they were sitting up in a tree. _

_**I don't know… she could be a tracker and know we're already here. She could just be messing with us. **__She thought back to him, worrying her lip. _

_**Bells, we need to know. **__He thought, trying to get her to understand with his eyes. _

_She thought for a while, and then finally caved._

_**Fine. But be careful. If she takes off, we need to follow her. **_

_He leaned over and kissed her quickly, then made his way, quietly towards where the woman was still watching the house. _

_As he got to where he could hear her, he was disturbed by what he was seeing. _

_What he saw was a plan to take out the most powerful vampires in the world. Building an army to get rid of the threat to her, so that she could be the one on top. She was checking out where they all lived and how many people were going to be in the way. _

_He didn't realize his breathing was getting shallow and suddenly the woman took off into the woods again._

"Shit_" He hissed and took off after her, with Bella on his heels. _

_**What the hell happened? **__Bella thought, then looked into his mind, and panic took over. __**Oh fuck…**_

_**Yeah. We've got a huge ass problem. **__He thought back as they continued to run._

_**Em! Get out here and help us follow her. **__Bella thought to Emmett that was still in the house. _

_Emmett and Rosalie both bolted out of the house and followed the trail of Edward, Bella and the mystery woman. _

_Once they had caught up to Edward and Bella, Emmett had to know what was happening._

_**She saw that there was a huge group of us living in the area. She's been building up an army of vampires to take out the strongest of us so that she can be on top. I'm not sure how big the army is, exactly, but it can't be good for us. **__Bella thought to him as they still made chase. It was getting harder to keep up with her, but they kept following her scent._

_**Fuuuuck! Does she know about the six of us? **__Emmett asked._

_They were getting close to Seattle now, and they weren't sure if they could go quite as unnoticed with there being so many of them._

_**I don't know. Edward? Did she know?**__ Bella thought._

_**I'm not sure. I didn't see anything that says she knew, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't. Shit… we lost her.**__ He thought as they came up to the piers, where she obviously jumped in to lose them._

"_Damn it. She could be anywhere now. I have a strong feeling that she'll be back though. She didn't seem like she wanted to give up this area. This may be a huge problem for us." Edward said as they studied the water to try and see if they could pick up on her scent again._

"_It's no use. She's long gone. We should have stayed closer to her. Let's head back. We'll keep an eye out for her, if she decides to come back to Forks." Bella said as she backed away from the water and towards the tree line._

_Once they were back at the Cullen house, Carlisle and Esme were waiting._

"_What happened? Kate and Garrett called and said Rose and Emmett bolted out of the house earlier with no word." Carlisle asked as they all trickled into the house._

"_Call the rest of them. We need to have a family meeting." Bella said, and then turned to Esme. "Where's Jasper at? He needs to know about this too."_

_Carlisle walked out to call the rest of the family as Esme spoke. "He should be up in his room, asleep. We didn't want to wake him yet if it wasn't anything important."_

"_I got it." Edward said, and then ran up the stairs to Jasper's room._

_Jasper had been living with the Cullen's ever since their mother died._

_Edward knocked on the door and waited for Jasper._

_The door opened to a half awake Jasper. "Dude, what the hell? I know you guys don't sleep, but come on."_

_Edward just chuckled. "Sorry little bro, but we've got a problem and you need to come downstairs. This affects you, too. Put some damn clothes on." Then he was gone._

"_Vampires…" Jasper muttered as he turned around and looked for some clothes._

_He felt a gust of air behind him. "Just remember Jazz, you'll be one, one day too." Emmett said from the doorway, then turned and ran back downstairs, laughing. _

"_Ugh, this is what I get for moving in with them when I'm still human…" He muttered again as he threw on some clothes, and then started down the stairs. _

_As he came into the living room, he could hear more people than usual coming in the house. _

"_Ok, what the hell is going on?" Jasper asked as he sat on the couch. _

_Everyone filtered into the living room and Bella and Edward headed up the meeting. _

"_Ok… we came across a female vampire when we were going out to hunt, earlier. And we found out some stuff about her. _

"_She obviously saw this house and the vampires that live here, and then she went off into the woods. We thought she was going to run off to wherever she had been before, but she went to Kate and Garrett's. She sat there watching the house for a while and I guess she sensed us and then she took off. That's where the four of us went to. We followed her to Seattle, and then lost her in the water. I don't know why she didn't turn to the reservation and go that way to the water. She may not have ventured that way yet. _

"_Edward saw some of what was in her mind, too. And that's where we will have the major problem." Bella started, and then turned to Edward._

"_Her name is Maria. She seems to be planning a war or a take over of some kind. She's building some sort of army of vampires, and it looks like she's trying to get rid of any powerful vampire that won't be of use to her. Or follow her. She wants to be the one in control and I think she's going to get rid of most, if not all of them. Once they've done their job, she'll have no use for them. She seemed like she knew what we were, but wouldn't believe that we were actually around and becoming the powerful leaders. I think she wanted to see if we were 'completed', or if it was just other vampires blowing smoke about stories they've heard around. _

"_Which brings us to our first problem; what do we do about this if we aren't fully the powerful leaders?" Edward asked as he looked around the room. _

_Everyone looked deep in thought for a while. But Jasper was the first one to speak up._

"_Well it's pretty obvious. We need to complete the group. Someone has to change me so we can be ready for her when she comes back." _

_Everyone just looked at him, shocked. _

"_Jazz, are you sure? Do you think you're ready for this? You would be doing this willingly. Not because there was no other choice." Edward asked his brother. _

_Jasper thought for a few moments. He wanted to tell them his thoughts. _

"_Yeah, I am. I've known for a while that I want to do it. I want to be with Ali. I've seen the difference in yours and Bella's relationship, and Rose and Em's. You seem to be more of a cohesive unit when you're both vampires. And I don't want that holding the two of us back. I want to be able to run with her through the woods, be able to understand what it feels like when she tells me stories of her past. I want to be her equal. And I want to be able to fight with you guys when this woman comes back. We need to be a united front, and that means equal footing. There's really no point in waiting. It's what I want, so who's going to do it?" _

"_I'll do it." Alice spoke up after a moment. _

_Bella and Emmett both looked up at her._

"_Ali, are you sure you can do this? I know how hard it was when I did it, but I didn't have time to think about it. You'll be doing this in a more relaxed environment." Emmett asked her._

"…_Yeah." She nodded. "I want to be the one to do it. You all have done it for your mates. I want to do it for mine. I'm pretty sure I can handle it, but I want one of you there, to be on the safe side."_

_Bella nodded as well. "Ok. So when do you want to do this? Jasper, it has to be up to you when you want to do it. But to be honest, the sooner we can do this, the sooner we're going to be at our strongest. I don't know exactly what it will entail once we're all vampires, but we need to be able to get you used to being one of us, and whatever comes with it for the rest of us. It could be nothing, but we need to be ready when that woman comes back." _

"_I'm ready when Alice is." Jasper spoke up, without hesitation. _

_Alice shook her head. "I need to hunt first. I was gonna go tomorrow, but I guess there's no time like now if we're going to go ahead with this." _

"_That's fine, Ali. Go ahead and hunt. We'll stay here and make sure Jasper's ready for all of this."_

_Alice made a run for the woods after she kissed Jasper. The others went through everything with Jasper, about what was going to happen, and what to expect. He didn't care, as long as he could get it over with, and be with Alice. _

_Once Alice came back, she noticed Kate and Garrett, and Charlotte and Peter had gone home. _

"_Rosalie, are you going to be able to control yourself? You've been a vampire for the least amount of time. Do you think you can handle the blood?" Alice asked as she came into the room where they would change Jasper._

_Rosalie sat in the chair she was in for a few moments, thinking. "I don't know. I don't think I can. And I don't want to chance it, especially with Jazz. Em, can we go hunt? Maybe by the time we get back, the worst of it will be over." Emmett nodded and Rosalie hugged her brother then left with Emmett. _

"_Why don't you go downstairs with mom and dad, while I stay up here with Ali. She needs one of us, and I don't want you to struggle. We still haven't hunted." Bella whispered to Edward._

_He nodded and headed downstairs with Esme and Carlisle behind him. _

_Alice changed Jasper without much of a problem. She did have a moment of unclear perception after she had bitten him. The blood in her system made her control slip for a slight moment, but Bella was there to stop her from doing anything._

_When Jasper's heart finally stopped beating, a few days later, there was a gust of wind through the room and everything went silent._

"_What the hell?" Bella asked after a moment._

"_I'm not sure… maybe… could it be something with the power being completed?" Rosalie suggested from her spot by Emmett._

"_Whatever it is, be on the lookout for any differences. Jasper needs to know too, Alice." Bella told them. _

_When Jasper woke up, he was thirstier for blood than Edward or Rosalie had been. They had to make a run for the woods almost immediately after he woke. _

"_Ali, this is brutal. Is this how it is with everyone?" He had asked her when they were on their way back, after hunting. _

"_Sometimes. You saw Edward and Rose. They were mildly tamed in their thirst. But with every person, it's a little different. No one knows why. But I do remember it being pretty rough when I became a full vampire. It will get easier, though. It just takes time, lots of feeding, and control." Alice told him as they walked through the back yard of the Cullen's house. _

_Upon entering the house, they noticed several pieces of furniture had been blown up and they heard voices coming from the other room. _

_Alice and Jasper rushed into the dining room and saw Edward holding Bella's hands, behind her, and Rosalie was also trying to keep Emmett's hands down and occupied._

"_What happened? Did she come back?" Alice asked as everyone turned to look at them. _

"_Nope." Bella said as she looked at Rosalie, Emmett and Edward. Esme and Carlisle were standing back. _

"_Sooo…" Jasper drawled._

_Bella looked back at Emmett and he saw what she wanted to do and knew he had to focus on this little experiment. _

"_Emmett…" Bella prompted him. He saw what she wanted to do and nodded his head._

"_Bella, don't…" Edward tried to warn her off._

_She picked up an orange and tossed it in the air, focused on it, and blew it up._

_Just as soon as it exploded, Emmett focused on it, as well, and then froze the whole thing._

_Everyone just stood there with their mouths hanging open, staring at both of them. _

"_So I think we found out what that gust of wind might have been…" Bella started._

"_Wait, hold the damn phone. You guys have our powers now? Do we still have them, too? What the hell's going on?" Jasper sputtered off, trying to understand._

_Edward moved his hand, motioning towards the exploding fruit, and moved it towards the back door, opened the door, then moved the fruit out the door, closing it again. Then he went back to Bella, holding her hands so she wouldn't blow anything up, again._

"_Yeah, we've still got our powers. But it appears that once Jasper was changed, everything meshed into one huge cluster of powers and abilities. Bella can hear Rose's thoughts, on her own. Emmett heard mine. I'm surprised you two haven't noticed yet." Edward explained. _

"_No, we were more focused on getting Jazz fed and then getting back. We weren't really anywhere where he would need to use his powers. Wait… so I've got his powers, too? Holy shit…" Alice told them, and then looked back into the living room. "So what happened in there?" _

_Carlisle cleared his voice and took a step forward. "We all gathered in the living room when you two left to hunt, and Emmett thought he should have gone with you both. Bella was trying to calm him and they both got a little jumpy. The next thing we all knew, the couch had blown up, and so had the entertainment center. We finally deduced that it had to have been Bella and Emmett because Edward and Rosalie have their powers under control. So apparently this is part of the 'package', as it were, when you all finally became vampires, and the powerful leaders. I wouldn't be surprised if there was more that you all share, in the long run." _

"_Well… shit…" Jasper said, not sure what to make of all this information. _

"_Just… be cautious of the things you do. If we notice something different, we let the others know. Not that I don't think they'll know, since we can read each other, but you get the point." Bella told each of them. Then she looked back over her shoulder at Edward. "Can I have my hands back now?"_

"_That depends. Are you going to accidentally blow someone up?" Edward asked her, with amusement in his voice._

"_If you don't let me go, I'll blow YOU up." She countered back._

"_You can't. Those powers don't work on us." He smirked back at her._

"_Wait, I thought you moved Rosalie out of the way when we were in Italy?" Bella asked which had everyone else curious about this information. _

_He let go of her hands and moved her so his arm was wrapped around her shoulders. "We can't be frozen or blown up. I guess its part of our 'make up', that those powers can't do anything to us. I think it's molecular, maybe. Something in our genes that can't speed up or slow down, which is what, happens when we freeze or blow up something. So I think since you each took blood from us, and then it affects you, as well. At least I'm hoping so. We haven't exactly tried to do that."_

"_Well why don't we?" Jasper asked._

_They all went outside to test out what they could do with their powers. It started out being whether they could freeze each other, and then they went on to practicing with each other and learning the best ways to manipulate their gifts._

"_You three are really good at catching onto this stuff. We shouldn't have any problems when Maria comes back." Edward told them._

_They spent the next few weeks practicing, hunting, scoping out the woods for any signs of Maria, and figuring out a plan of attack. Not knowing exactly how big her army was, didn't sit well with them. Edward hadn't been able to see exact numbers. But they wanted to be as prepared as they could be._

_~End of flashback~_

It was about a month after Jasper's change, when they caught wind of Maria.

_~Earlier on the present day~_

Jasper and Alice had been out hunting when they could sense another vampire around them.

**Jazz, do you feel that?** Alice thought to him as they slowed down their pace.

**Yeah, do you think it's her?** He thought back to her. They looped around their route and made their way into the trees.

**I think it might be. We need to let the others know. We're not close enough to reach their minds, though. Start back towards the houses, we've gotta get close enough. Hopefully, she'll still be in the area and we'll catch back up to her.** Alice thought, as she started making her way through the treetops.

As they got closer to the Cullen's house, Alice's thoughts were screaming out to Bella.

**BELLA! Get a move on! We've got a lead on Maria! Get Em and Rose and meet us!** Alice thought as they turned back toward the way they had come from.

Without a second thought, Bella and Edward were out of the back door, with Carlisle and Esme behind them.

**EM! ROSE! We gotta get going! Maria made an appearance!** Bella thought to them, since she was still closest to their house. Alice had already run off in the direction that they had left off seeing Maria at.

**Shit!** Bella heard from Emmett's mind before she felt them coming through the woods to meet them.

"Does anyone else feel like this could end up being a trap?" Esme observed as they all ran through the woods.

"We can't afford for her to keep going with this plan to take over the vampire world. We don't need a tyrant who is going to kill all of us off. We're not going to be 'rulers' over our kind, but we also can't let vampires like her go on a rampage like this. I'm starting to not like it being called powerful sovereigns. I don't want to be like the kings and queens of our world. Can we find another name for it?" Bella rattled on, anxiously.

"Bells slow down. I know you're nervous about all of this, but we'll deal with all of that later. We need to find Maria and make sure she doesn't kill or change anymore innocent people. There's no telling how many vampires are in her army." Edward tried to calm her.

"Sorry…" Bella trailed off.

"It's ok, Bella. I was even thinking that the other day. We'll deal with that after we deal with Maria." Alice said as they all met up together to follow Maria's trail.

"I'm with Ali." Rosalie said as she and Emmett saddled up beside the rest of them.

_~Back to present time~_

"This way. I think her trail's getting stronger." Alice said quietly to the rest of the group.

As they ran through the woods, they could each feel like they were on the right track.

"Edward, can you pick up on her? She can't be that far away." Carlisle asked.

Edward felt out around them and he seemed to be able to hear more than just Maria.

"Stop, stop, stop…" He said, quietly with a certain amount of urgency.

Everyone came to an abrupt stop and looked over at him.

He could see that she was on her way to where the majority of her army would be. They were all in a large clearing between Forks and the coastline.

"So, she obviously checked out the rest of the area around here. She hadn't been this way before, when she was here." Edward said, quietly to the others.

They all tried to think of the best way to approach. A straight on attack would be too obvious. But Maria was expecting them to come after them, immediately.

So what they decided to do was wait high in the trees for at least a day and see what Maria did.

They strategically set themselves up around the tops of the trees, where they could get a good view from all angles. They were spread out in a large arch, from where Edward was place, closest to where the army was, to where Kate and Emmett were in a tree, furthest away.

As they waited through the day, they only noticed a couple of vampires getting even close to where they were perched in the trees. They never got close enough to attack them, but they were still venturing around. Most likely looking for them.

When morning was finally dawning, they figured they would go ahead with their attack.

"We need to surround them, first. Make sure they can't get away. I'm sensing, close to fifty vampires with her. We do need to be careful, but if we time it out right, we can get rid of them in one swoop. As long as we don't get stragglers. Does everyone understand what we're doing?" Edward asked, looking to each of them for confirmation.

They each nodded with an understanding of what they needed to do. Their numbers were helpful, but not necessary. They could take out the entire group without blinking an eye. But they needed to make sure there was no other threat from another partial group of Maria's army out there.

"Alright, let's go." Bella whispered where each of them could hear.

Alice, Jasper, Charlotte and Peter made their way to the far side of the clearing, in the trees. And Rosalie, Emmett, Kate and Garrett filtered onto either side coming back to where Edward, Bella, Esme and Carlisle were.

**Everyone stay in the trees until one of us give the signal. We need to see if she'll give us answers. But if they attack, then we'll fight. If someone surrenders, then we won't kill them right then. The normal rules of war can be applied here.** Bella thought to Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper. They would let the others near them know, but agreed.

Edward, Bella, Carlisle and Esme slowly inched their way towards where they could see Maria. As soon as she could smell the four of them though, she turned and went into a defensive crouch; as did the vampires around her.

They stopped where they were and Carlisle held up his hands, showing they didn't mean any harm.

"We just wanted to know why you decided to come here. We have a permanent residence here, and would appreciate you not hunting in the area." Carlisle said in a calm voice.

Maria and the other vampires didn't relax their stance, though.

Edward could hear her thoughts, even though she refused to say anything.

**Fucking vegetarian vampires. I can't wait to get rid of them. They're a disgrace to our kind. I can't believe how many of them live like this.** Maria thought.

"She thinks we're unnatural." Edward muttered to the others, causing Maria to hiss at him and act like she was going to charge at him.

"Whoa! Slow your roll, bitch. You're the one that strolled into town and scouted us out. You're in our territory. We have every right to defend ourselves. He's just telling us what we need to know. So don't get your panties in a twist." Bella snarled at Maria.

Edward turned and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"What? I'm on a roll here." She told him quietly.

He just snickered.

"I don't care! I came here for a reason. And I think I have an advantage over just a few of you." Maria mocked them.

"She obviously doesn't know who we are. She would have at least a little bit of fear in her, if she did." Edward said, never taking his eyes off of Maria, who snapped her eyes to him.

"What the hell are you? How do you know all of that?" Maria snapped at him.

"I thought you didn't want to know?" Bella quipped, to which Maria just hissed. "Ok, ok fine. Ever hear the Powerful Sovereigns?"

They saw something sink into Maria's mind when Bella said that. Edward could tell she knew what they were talking about, but she didn't care. She would let the others die first, and she would try to get away from the fight.

"Nope, you're not getting out of this one. You started something, you're gonna finish it." Edward said to her when he saw her waver.

"You have a couple of options here, Maria. You can leave here, and disband your army, or you can try to fight us. Make a decision quickly or we will make it for you." Carlisle said in a very diplomatic tone.

Maria mulled it over for a bit. She didn't want to let them win. She was determined to do things her way. She wouldn't be deterred. She also thought she had the upper hand over them.

"You four will not stop me." Maria hissed.

"Obviously you don't know your history. For one thing, there are six that make up the Powerful Sovereigns. And two, my mother and father aren't two of them. So you do the math. There are at least four others of us out there in the trees, and more. Do you think we wouldn't have come prepared?" Bella asked her.

"So you still think that eight or ten vampires can defeat fifty or more? You have nothing on your side. I've got the numbers." Maria sneered at them.

Bella, Edward and the others noticed that more and more of the vampires were putting their focus on them. And Emmett, Rosalie, Kate, Garrett, Alice, Jasper, Peter and Charlotte were sneaking in around them.

"Maria, don't be foolish. You and these vampires that you've turned don't have to die, senselessly." Carlisle tried again.

Maria didn't want to hear anymore, and charged at them, towards Carlisle. But he dodged her.

Many of the vampires from Maria's army ran forward to fight them. Some of them got their hands on the four of them, but soon the first vampire was blown up, and most of them were now paying attention. Though they still fought. They just fought with more caution.

Emmett and the others started on the other side and got several of the vampires by surprise. But soon, the vampires noticed them, and turned to fight.

Maria skirted out of the way and let her army fight. She wanted to get the job done and not get her hands dirty, so to speak.

There was a whirlwind of activity going on in the clearing. You could see the odd blowing up of a vampire here and there, but with the amount of vampires against Bella and her family was hard to keep up with.

**We've gotta surround them again. We can't keep fighting them like this. **Bella thought to Edward and the others.

**Ok, what if we can't get everyone out?** Alice asked as she was trying to run to the exterior of the group.

**We'll have to take our chances and go with whatever happens. We have to do this.** Bella thought back as she made her way out.

"Everyone out!" Bella shouted to the others, since they couldn't hear her thoughts.

As they made their way through the crowd, they took note of the numbers. There were still at least thirty vampires left.

When Bella, Edward, Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie were around the outside of the army, they looked for their parents and noticed that Peter, Charlotte and Kate were still in the middle of the mass of enemy vampires.

**Aw shit…** Alice thought, looking at where her parents were. **How are we gonna do this?**

Bella started thinking of ways to get Peter, Charlotte and Kate out, but was only coming up with one.

"Bella, don't… please, just don't. How is that going to work anyways?" Edward begged her, while still looking at the scene in front of them.

"Edward, just trust me. Don't aim for the middle." Bella told him. **You guys, distract them so I can get in there. **She thought to the others.

**Bells, no…** Emmett started to object, but Bella stopped him.

**EM, JUST DO IT.**

"Carlisle, she's watching. And there are a few in the trees that got away, that didn't want to fight. I need you and Esme to stop her from leaving, and we somehow have to get the others to not leave either. Maybe we can get some answers out of them." Edward whispered.

**Emmett, tell your dad, too.** Edward thought to him.

**Got it.**

Emmett and Garrett backed away from the group, serving as one distraction. Alice and Jasper moved in the other direction, just so the vampires would follow their movements.

While most of the vampires were distracted on the other side of the clearing, Carlisle and Esme slipped back into the woods to follow Maria.

Bella took the chance to take of running into the middle of the group of Maria's army, towards Peter, Charlotte and Kate.

She was quick enough, and the mass of vampires was small enough together that she could easily get there without the others realizing it until she was there.

"Alright, I need you three to duck down, and stay huddled." Bella told them quickly before she turned back to the other vampires in front of her.

She quickly remembered what she did once before, and threw herself over Peter, Charlotte and Kate.

"GO!" Bella yelled at Edward.

Edward took a huge intake of air, and decided to trust Bella.

**Em, Alice, you know her. Just trust her and do it. **Edward thought to them.

**Fuck it!** Emmett thought, as he took his aim.

The rest of them saw what Bella wanted to do, and knew they only had this one shot.

They focused on where to fire, and the five of them proceeded to blow up Maria's army, trying to bend the flames around the mound of their family in the middle. Bella pulled her arms up from her spot, and tried to block the flames that were coming their way.

It took all her strength, considering it was coming at them from all angles, to stop the onslaught.

Eventually, when the smoke cleared and Edward could see across to where Bella, Peter, Charlotte and Kate were last at, he saw a motionless Bella on the ground.

"BELLA!" Edward yelled as he bolted to her side over a huge ring of fiery ashes. "Baby, wake up. Come on, beautiful, don't do this to me." He brought her into his lap and shook her shoulder, trying to get her to wake up.

It was several moments later and a lot of pacing from Emmett and Alice, until Bella finally came around.

"Babe? You ok?" Edward asked her, cautiously.

Bella sat up and saw her mother and father struggling with Maria to get her back to the clearing, where they still were.

"Not quite…" Bella answered vaguely as she stood slowly and walked towards Maria.

When she stopped in front of the struggling woman, and slapped her as hard as she could, knocking Maria off balance.

"If you ever thought about making your peace with God, I'd start right now. Because you have two choices. You can die like a coward, or you can face your death head on. Which one is it gonna be?" Bella asked her with a cold voice.

"Fuck you, you little bitch!" Maria spat at her, still struggling.

"Well, you were a coward to run away from a fight that you wanted in the first place. So how about we flip a coin? Sound fair?" Bella asked kind of mocking Maria.

Maria just jutted her chin out in defiance.

"Fine. I was giving you the option." Bella told her. She then turned to Edward. **Anything on why she was doing this?**

Edward had been trying to feel Maria out to see what was going on with her, and then he finally saw it. What she wanted to accomplish by doing all of this.

"She wanted to expose our kind… not just vegetarians, but all of us. So she could start something like the vampire hunts from hundreds of years ago, but she would try to hide. Let the majority of vampires be killed off and she would be one of only a few left. She couldn't do it alone, all over the world, so she needed the help to get rid of what she could around here, and then she would let the humans come after us. She figured she'd try to live differently than most of our kind." Edward explained to them in a voice full of distain for Maria.

Maria just narrowed her eyes at him. "How the hell did you figure that out? What are you freaks?" Maria snarled at him.

"I can read minds. Anyone's that is within a few miles. And the six of us can read each other's minds, as well. Pretty cool, huh?" Edward asked her as she still struggled.

"Does it matter? You're just going to kill me, so why are you toying with me? Just do it and be done with it." Maria said, hoping that they would have some form of mercy.

Maria wormed her way loose from Carlisle and Esme's hold and made a break for it.

"Really? She wants to do it this way? Stubborn woman…" Bella muttered, and then took her aim at Maria.

The next thing anyone saw was a black cloud of smoke and dust.

"Well, she was a coward until the end. But at least we won't have to worry about her anymore. Hopefully there aren't any faithful stragglers of her army." Edward mused. Then turned to the rest of them. "Where are the ones that didn't want to fight?"

Garrett and Emmett pointed to the small group of vampires at the edge of the clearing. There were about six of them and they all looked terrified.

Everyone walked over to the surrendered vampires and stopped to take them in.

There were two females and four males in the group. All of them seemed young, in actual age and vampire years.

"You all decided not to fight, but you still followed her here. Did you all just plan to not fight, or did you not want to die a painful death when the others started to turn to ashes?" Carlisle asked.

The oldest looking man, probably about twenty-eight, spoke up. "We didn't have a whole lot of options. Maria said we either had to join her or die. She told us that if we went out on our own, that people would know right away what we were and we would be killed. So we all stayed. None of us standing here wanted to fight. We've always kind of been in the background. Maria was one crazy bitch, though. I don't know how she thought she could get rid of so many vampires and not have it bite her in the ass one day."

"Well, we have a small problem. If the six of you are going to try and do the same as she did, then we can't let you all leave here. We won't let vampires try to upset the balance in the world. As long as they don't overdo it feeding, and making excessive vampires, like Maria did, then we won't have to intervene. So, do we have a problem with you all, or can you be peaceful?" Carlisle asked them.

The guy shook his head. "No, we won't be any trouble. We just want to live a life where we're not subjected to someone else's ploy for domination."

"Ok… If there are any of you who are willing to consider the vegetarian life, where you only feed off of animals, then you are welcome to stay here for a while and let us teach you about it. If not, then you can be on your way. But if you see any signs of anyone causing trouble in our world, then let them know that we will be around to stop them." Bella let them know, not being at all menacing, but still getting the point across.

They all nodded at her and two of the men took off towards the woods, and the other four stayed where they were.

The oldest looking female in the group, since the guy that had been speaking before ran off to the trees, spoke up.

"We're willing to learn a new way to live. Killing humans always seemed to be the darkest part of being a vampire."

"There are many depths of darkness to being a vampire. You just have to choose what you're willing to fight against to live happily." Bella said as they turned to head back to the Cullen home.

THE END!

* * *

><p>WOOOHOOOO! It's finally finished! *happy dance*<p>

Now, I'm going to start working on a new story….or two… haha

The major one I'm gonna do will be very….. Wait for it….. Mobward! Yes, it will be mobward, but from BPOV. I'm getting away from the gd third person writing. It drives me nuts sometimes. And I'm taking a break from vampires for a little bit. Now I know some of you read 'The Greatest Man I Never Knew', and it will not be exactly like that. I'm gonna go a different route with it, but hope it will still be good.

On a personal note: I can't believe how many people read and absolutely love that story. I was shocked and honored that so many enjoyed it.

And this story as well. So many of you have 'favorite'd it, and that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. (I don't do warm and fuzzy normally. Lol)

Anyways, keep an eye out for the new story. It should be posting in a few weeks. I've gotta start getting a jump on it. I've got the ideas for it, I just gotta write it.

Thanks again to Laurie for helping me out with this story, and my others. She keeps me sane most of the time :p

Hope you guys have enjoyed this story. And thank you soooo much for taking this little journey with me. Much love.

Oh, and huge news! It's my birthday tomorrow! Woohoooo! Ugh, I'm turning 26 *face palm*


End file.
